Review article
A Contribution to the Knowledge of the Events in the Area of the Municipalities of Virje and Šemovci during The Second World War
Hrvoje Petrić
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
After the chaotic retreat of the Royal Yugoslav Army, German troops entered Virje on April 9, 1941. A small group of Ustashas (Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization) operated there, which received weapons and in the following days began organizing the government of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and spreading its influence through terror, thus becoming a marginal dominant force. The Ustashas organized the arrest of Jews and Roma prople, and their suffering soon followed. Also, families of Serbian nationality were forced to leave Virje. The Ustashas also put pressure on the Croatian population that did not agree with their violent methods, which made it easier for the members and sympathizers of the until then marginal Communist Party to organize resistance through partisan units, which in the area of today's Virje municipality had the first small armed clash with representatives of the NDH regime. Throughout the war, part of the population was recruited into regular Home Guard units, so the young men were assigned to Home Guard units far from Virje. The once extremely strong HSS political party (Croatian Peasant Party) became stratified - most of its membership and sympathizers became passive, individuals became closer to the Ustasha regime, while some supporters joined the people's militia (White Guard) in Virje toward the end of the war, that is, chose to join the anti-fascist movement by joining partisan units or civil organs of the so-called people's authorities which started operating in Virje at the beginning of the spring of 1943. In order to win over the local population, the NDH authorities supported the initiative to separate the area of Virovski Konaki from one part of the municipality of Virje, where the municipality of Novo Virje was formed in 1943. When the partisans got stronger, they undertook more activities in the Bilogora villages and repeatedly attacked the railway line or initiated various activities in Virje. At the beginning of November 1943, Virje and Šemovci and the surrounding area became part of a large partisan territory. Even though this territory was significantly reduced in February 1944, the partisans continued to control the area of Virje and its surroundings until May 1944, when the power was brought back to the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). Partisans occupied Virje again at the beginning of October 1944 and stayed until the second week of December of the same year. Virje and its surroundings were then occupied by Cossacks who systematically terrorized the population until the end, which was recorded on May 4, 1945.
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Hrčak ID:
312707
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2023.
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