Battle of Zvornik

Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
| Date| 4–5 July 1943

|

Location|

Zvornik, Independent State of Croatia

44°23′3″N 19°6′9″E﻿ / ﻿44.38417°N 19.10250°E﻿ / 44.38417; 19.10250
Result|  Successful capture of Zvornik by Partisan forces[1]
Belligerents
Yugoslav Partisans|  Germany
Independent State of Croatia
Commanders and leaders
Koča Popović (commander)
Filip Kljajić † (political commissary)|  Rudolf Lüters (general)
Casualties and losses
3500–5000|  450–2,000

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World War II in Yugoslavia

1941

* Axis invasion
* Bombing of Belgrade
* Bombing of Sarajevo

Uprisings

* Uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina

*     * Sanski Most
* Eastern Herzegovina
* Drvar uprising
* Rogatica
* Olovo

* Uprising in Croatia

*     * Srb uprising

* Uprising in Serbia

*     * Bela Crkva
* Loznica
* Banja Koviljača
* Šabac
* Kruševac
* Mačva
* Uzice
* Kraljevo
* Trešnjica
* Novi Pazar
* Mihailovic
* Sjenica

* Uprising in Montenegro

*     * Bullseye
* Pljevlja

1942

* Dražgoše
* Southeast Croatia
* Hydra
* Prijedor
* Nanos
* Trio
* Chetnik sabotage of Axis communication lines
* Montenegro
* Kozara
* Partisan Long March
* Kupres
* Livno
* Alfa
* Kopaonik
* Bihać

1943

* Case White
* Greenwood–Rootham
* Otto
* Fungus
* Hoathley 1
* Case Black
* Typical
* Zvornik
* Davidson
* Grčarice
* Turjak Castle
* Maclean
* Višegrad
* Bombing of Podgorica
* Bombing of Zadar
* Delphin
* Rogers
* Kugelblitz
* Kočevje

1944

* Maibaum
* Bombing of Belgrade
* Raid on Mljet
* Raid on Šolta
* Dafoe
* Lindsay
* Rösselsprung
* Andrijevica
* Halyard
* Ožbalt
* Ratweek
* Serbia
* Belgrade
* Niš
* Stracin–Kumanovo
* Vukov Klanac
* Bregalnitsa–Strumica
* Kosovo
* Syrmian Front
* Floxo
* Niš airspace incident
* Batina
* Knin
* Desivojca

1945

* Trnovo
* Mostar
* Bombing of Zagreb
* Spring Awakening
* Transdanubian Hills
* Lika-Primorje
* Nagykanizsa-Körmend
* Sarajevo
* Lijevče Field
* Trieste
* Zelengora
* Poljana
* Odžak

* * *

* Axis occupation of Serbia
* Hungarian occupation
* Kosovo during World War II
* World War II in the Slovene Lands
* World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia
* Air warfare in Yugoslavia
* Allied bombing campaign

The Battle of Zvornik (Serbo-Croatian: Bitka u Zvorniku) was the 1943 capture by the 1st Proletarian Brigade of the occupied Bosnian town Zvornik from the Wehrmacht and the Ustasha troops of the occupying Independent State of Croatia.

## Operation

[edit]

Preparation for the offensive on the occupied town of Zvornik by the 1st Proletarian Brigade began in June 1943.[2] On the order of the brigades commander Koča Popović, the troops began their attack on the night of 4 July 1943.

The idea of the attack was that during the night the sudden, powerful onslaught could takeover the Zvornik Fortress (Kula grad) on Mount Mlađevac. Mlađevac and Zmajevac were also successfully captured in the initial attack. The Ustasha troops, legionnaires and civilians fled across the Drina river into Serbia. Many people died crossing the Drina.

Filip Kljajić, the political commissary of the 1st Proletarian Brigade, was shot accidentally on a hill on the outskirts of Zvornik during withdrawal.[3][4][5] His body was taken to the Bosniak village Liplje on a mountain near Zvornik and buried. Kljajić's body was later taken from that spot by his family and reburied in a family plot elsewhere. A memorial was erected on the spot where his corpse was originally buried. Following the ethnic cleansing of Liplje in 1992 at the start of the Bosnian War, the memorial suffered and became overgrown with shrubbery.

## Aftermath

[edit]

Rodoljub Čolaković, who participated in the capture on the Partisan side, wrote in his 1962 memoir Winning Freedom: "We had reached a grand and most significant victory in eastern Bosnia. We had liberated Zvornik, an important junction of communications along the Drina."[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hoare, Marko Attila (1 February 2014). The Bosnian Muslims in the Second World War; page 91. ISBN 978-0-19-936531-9. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
2. ^ Dedijer, Vladimir (15 August 1990). From November 28, 1942, to September 10, 1943. ISBN 9780472101092. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
3. ^ "Kako smo učili od Prve proleterske". E Novine. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
4. ^ Šuber, Daniel; Karamanic, Slobodan (5 January 1942). Retracing Images: Visual Culture After Yugoslavia. ISBN 9789004210301. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
5. ^ "Dokumenti centralnih organa KPJ NOR i revolucija (1941–1945): (16. septembar-31. decembar 1941)". 1985. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
6. ^ Čolaković, Rodoljub (1962). "Winning Freedom". Retrieved 29 March 2016.

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Russia|

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| Macedonian Struggle|

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Interwar|

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