Croatology, Vol. 16 No. 2, 2025.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.59323/k.16.2.8
Priests of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Chetnik Organization in Dalmatia During the Second World War
Vladimir Šumanović
; Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Drawing on archival and published documents and relevant historiographical literature, this paper describes the role that the priests of the Serbian
Orthodox Church (SPC) had in the development of the Chetnik organization in the area of Dalmatia during the Second World War. Available
sources point to the conclusion that seventeen SPC priests were actively
involved in the Chetnik organization in Dalmatia, with the two most prominent members of that organization being SPC priests Sergije Urukalo and
Momčilo Đujić. The Chetnik organization initially operated in the form of
a humanitarian society under the name “Committee for Aid to Serbian Refugees”, and from 1942 it received a military framework and operated under the designation “Dinara Division”. The Chetnik organization operated
with the support of the Italian authorities until the capitulation of Italy, after
which it cooperated with the German authorities. With the withdrawal of
the German army from Dalmatia, the Chetnik organization collapsed and
the majority of SPC priests who were its officials withdrew. After the defeat of the Chetnik organization, six SPC priests who were members of its
organization remained in Dalmatia. The authorities of socialist Yugoslavia
sentenced three SPC priests to prison terms, while the other three priests of
the SPC were granted amnesty. Due to the connections of some members
of the socialist Yugoslav authorities with the SPC, the subject addressed in
this paper remained concealed and historiographically unexamined.
Keywords
Chetnik organization ; Dalmatia ; Momčilo Đujić ; Serbian Orthodox Church ; Sergije Urukalo
Hrčak ID:
337387
URI
Publication date:
2.11.2025.
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