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Biographical Dossiers of People central to the Chetniks

General Dragoljub "Draza" Mihailovic

Also known as "Cika" (Chika) Draza, he was the commander in chief of the WW2 Chetnik forces known as the Royal Yugoslav Army of the Fatherland(Homeland). He was a very skilled military strategian, who had been on the Chief of Staff in the Armed forces of the Royal Kingdom of Yugoslavia. When the Royal government was forced into exile by the German advances at the begining of the war, Draza was named a Minister in the Government in Exile and was given the responsibility to re-group the army and defeat the enemies. Serving as War Minister in the government, he became the Commander in Chief of the Royalist army by consolidating various armed groups together under his central command at Ravna Gora. He forged these various remnants of the Yugoslav forces and other "Chetnik" bands into a resistence force against the Germans, and other enemies (Croat ustasha, Partisans, etc.) Early in the war, Mihailovic cooperated with Tito and his Communist Partisans, but that alliance soon ended, and the 2 sides engaged in a civil war. Mihailovic realized that the Serbian forces and people could not sustain a frontal attack against the Germans, because their supplies were not sufficient, and because of the horrible reprisals against the civilian population that the Germans imposed for every one of their soilder's wounded or killed in a "rebel" raid (100 Serbs killed for every German killed; 50 Serbs killed for every German wounded). So, Mihailovic orchestrated a more "guerilla" resistence movement, carefully choosing it's attacks and surviving in the wilds of their homeland where the enemy couldn't find them. He hoped for an eventual Allied invasion, at which point his forces would attack with full force. Support from the Allies eventually ran out and diappeared in favor of the Partisans. At the end of the War, the Allies did offer to give him refuge outside of Yugoslavia, but Mihailovic refused these late overtures, saying that he could not betray his country or honor by leaving. Mihailovic was tried by the Communists in a show trial, and executed. It is not known where he was buried. President Truman of the United States awarded Mihailovic the Legion of Merit Medal, which is the highest honor a non-citizen can recieve, for his efforts as one of the best fighters for democracy that was resisting the Nazis in Europe. This medal remains in Washington, as the only medal of it's kind never delivered or picked up by it's recipient, a somber reminder of his tragic fate, and the failure of the West to stand behind a Hero until the end.

Vojvoda Momcilo Djuic

Momcilo Djuic was originally a Serbian Orthodox priest, who gave up his robe to answer the higher calling of the survival of his peoples, and rose to their defense against both internal and external agressors. The title of "Vojvoda" is a term from Serbian history and tradition which means military governor or commander. Djuic's command consisted mainly of the forces in the Kninska and Bosnian Krajinas, meaning that much of his battles were against fellow Yugoslavs...the Croatian Ustasha and Bosnian Muslim SS Handzar traitors who had sold out to the Nazis. His reputation as a fierce combatant was recognized by friend and foe alike. After the war, and the acension to power of the Communist Partisans, Djuic and many of his fighters left their Yugoslav homeland for refuge in other countries. Djuic himself eventually made it to North America, where he lives to this day. Vojvoda Djuic is the ONLY surviving officer of the "vojvoda" rank from the WW2 Chetnik forces, which makes him the highest ranking Chetnik still alive.

Major Richard Felman

Major Richard Felman is not a Serb, nor was he a Chetnik during WW2, but by the circumstances of history he has become enthralled in the Chetnik movement and has an important place with respect to it. Felman is an American, and was serving in the American armed forces during WW2, when he was shot down over Yugoslavia by Nazi gunners. His fate, along with the many other comrades who were similarly situated would normally have been but a footnote in the books of history as an epitaph for those killed in combat or missing in action. However, as fate would have it, his story did not end there. Felman, along with some 500 or so Allied airmen during the course of the war, had the stroke of luck to crash near territory where the Royalist Chetniks were active. Felman and his colleagues were rescued by the Chetniks and protected by them from German (and others) patrols. Felman thus spent time living with the Serb Chetniks before they were able to arrange with the Allied powers to safely transport him and the other airmed out of Yugoslavia. As a tribute to the sacrifices and actions of the Chetniks, Felman and his fellows developed deep bonds in their hearts for their saviours and friends. Ironically, in the communist show trials that followed the war, many Chetniks were accused and convicted of handing over allied airmen to the nazis...often the same airmen who they had actually helped escape back to the allies. In Felman's case, the Chetnik corporal from Cacak, Serbia (named Stefanovich) that did so much to save Feldman's life lost his own being charged and convicted of betraying Felman to the Nazis. In aknowledgement of the sacrifices of his saviors and friends, Felman has been active in promoting respect for the accomplishments of the Chetniks. He serves as the President of the organization formed by Allied airmen saved by the Chetniks and tirelessly works as an advocate, promoting the memory of the Chetniks and respect for their valiant efforts. His group has published books, given speeches, and had even raised money for a memorial in Washington DC for Draza Mihailovic (but this was in the end scrapped by the federal government after various anti-Serb lobbies protested). Recently, Felman and several others returned to the site of their introduction to the Chetniks in Yugoslavia, to celebrate with the sons and daughters of their comrades at arms, who had given up so much so that they could be free and alive today.

Major Djordje Lasich

Major Lasich was designated commander of the national forces in Montenegro by Mihailovic and the central Chetnik command in the fall of 1941. He spent the war leading his troops in a variety of actions, especially against the communist Partisan forces. on December 7, 1941, he attempted to strengthen the Serbian resistence forces by making overtures for Montenegrin Serb unity (both Chetniks and Partisans). His calls were for a joint main staff composed of freely chosen representatives from all the Montenegrin tribes. (Montenegro historically developed under a tribal/clan system) He also called for an end to the false accusations of spying and "liquidations" of people without due process. He proposed that they should fight together against the common enemy, and then after the war the people would decide what political ideology was preferred for governing the nation. These overtures were ignored by the Partisans, and the brutal civil war was unabated in the Montenegrin lands.

Pavle Djurisich

Djurisich was confirmed as the commander of the Linsko-Sandzacski detachment by a decree in December of 1941 by Draza Mihailovic. He was a well seasoned military officer whose credentials and knowledge were highly regarded. His veteran tactical knowledge and abilities aided him in commanding specially trained "Storm Troops" (the so-called "Djurisich Chetniks")of the Chetnik forces in the region. Acknowledged as a stunning fighter and commander, he enjoyed various sucesses before being captured (along with several thousand of his troops) by the German forces some time in 1943.

Major Radoslav Djuric

Mihailovic's commander of forces in Southeastern Serbia. His territory (known as "Jablanica") was northeast of Prishtina, and stretched east to the Bulgarian border, south to Vranje, North to the Nis-Leskovac plains. Under his command he had about 3,000 fully mobile troops augmented by a 10,000 strong peasent reserve, of which only 1/3 were armed with modern guns. But that did not stop them from fighting the enemy and making an accounting of themselves. Significantly, the Peasent reserves were viewed as equals of the regular troops, and interacted as such.

Colonel/Major Bill Hudson ("Marko")

SOE Allied officer assigned in 1941 to be an observer and liason with Mihailovic's Chetniks during the war. Himself a British officer(the first to officially enter Yugoslavia), he earned the nickname "Marko". His initial orders were "His Majesty's government now believes the fight should be by Yugoslavs for Yugoslavia, and not a revolt led by Communists for Russia." When the British and Allied commanders decided do a turnabout and abandon Mihailovic's Chetniks in favor of Tito and the Partisans, Hudson and his fellow observers demonstrated their disgust in many fashions. As reported in Newsweek in July of 1944, American OSS officers (Capt. Walter Mansfield and Lt. Col. John Seitz) delivered a report of protest to the government which was said to be pro-Mihailovic, but this report was supressed by the American War Department. Fluent in Serbian (Serbo-Croatian), Hudson was familiar with the territory of Yugoslavia because he had done some engineering/minig work there prior to the war.

Modern Day Chetniks??? (Heirs??? or Not??)

Dr. Nikola Poplasen

Nikola Poplasen was a professor in Sarajevo when the most recent wars on the territory of the former Yugoslavia broke out and erupted in Bosnia. He then moved to Banja Luka, in what became the "Republika Srpska" (Serb Republic), where he taught at the University. He actively participated in the defense of his peoples and his "country" and fought on the front line. In one particular incident, when fighting around Bihac intensified, he joined his students from the University in volunteering to go to the front lines to defend against an offensive by the 5th Army Corps of the "Armija BiH" (armed forces of the Sarajevo/Izetbegovic faction in the Bosnian Civil War). He, like many Serbian fighters, turned to his cultural tradition and heritage and called on the "Chetnik" spirit, and rose to the informal rank of "vojvoda", in defense of the Serb Republic. (NOTE: the manner of these various titles that many recieved in the contemporary wars in Fmr. Yugoslavia are widespread, and not at all clear, and very generic. It should be noted that these "heirs" to the Chetnik heritage are NOT the original Chetniks, nor are their titles, identity and command structures necessarily synonymous with the Chetniks of WW2). He became the mayor of Banja Luka, and agreed with Vojislav Seselj to form an extenstion of the Serbian Radical Party in the Serb Republic, which became known as the "Serb Radical Party of the Republika Srpska." Poplasen became president of that political organization. In post-Dayton Bosnia, he took part in the OSCE sponsered elections and won the popular vote to become the President of the semi-autonomous entity, the Serb Republic. As such, he became only the third President in that young Republic's history, and served in that capacity for some time, until he was recently removed from that post by the overseer of the Dayton plan in Bosnia, Carlos Westendorp.

Vojislav Seselj