Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5559/pi.18.33.02
Post-war Communist Repression and Crusaders in Herzegovina: Activities of Ivan Milas’s Group in the Čapljina and Čitluk Area
Blanka Matković
; Zagreb
Abstract
In the first months after the establishment of communist rule, already some forms of organized anti-communist resistance movements started appearing. At the same time, repression measures placed upon the local population started increasing, since the locals largely supported the anti-communist guerrilla with food, materials and information in certain areas in Herzegovina. A particularly active area was that between Dalmatia and West Herzegovina, where Crusader groups survived the longest, and where — thanks to the terrain and homogeneous population — these groups could very often move from one area to the other. These facts made any actions by the Yugoslav government, Department of State Security (UDBA) and Corps of People’s Defense of Yugoslavia (KNOJ) much more difficult. Certain Crusader groups were active in the broader Metković area in Croatia, all the way to Mostar in Herzegovina, which is why the National Militia in Metković was forced to maintain a presence on both sides of the border. The last Crusader and »jataks« group in the Neretva area was neutralized in September of 1946, when its leader Ivan Milas from Čapljina was captured, and the remaining Crusaders and »jataks« were killed or convicted. While certain circumstances of Milas’s operations in the Metković area remain shrouded in mystery, this paper focuses on his activities in Herzegovina between July 1945 and July 1946. During that time, Milas made a number of contacts with Crusaders from Široki Brijeg, as well as Chetniks from Prebilovci, and he later founded his own Crusader group which was mostly active in the region between Čapljina and Čitluk.
Keywords
anti-communist resistance; Herzegovina; Crusaders; »škripari«; Ivan Milas
Hrčak ID:
316434
URI
Publication date:
15.4.2024.
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