Battle of Sutjeska (items from my collection)

[BalkanCollector]

On this day in 1943, the Axis operation Fall Schwarz or the Battle of Sutjeska began. Over 120,000 Axis troops encircled 22,000 Yugoslav partisans and thousands of civilians which resulted in over 7,500 killed partisans, a couple of thousand killed civilians and many more wounded. It is estimated that the partisan casualties were 2/3 killed and wounded.

7th Banija Division of the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia had 4,100 soldiers prior to the battle. Around 50% of its soldiers were killed during the battle's end in June. Only 550 soldiers of the division returned to Banija in September after heavy combat in Bosnia, Herzegovina and Montenegro. Out of those 550, many more were killed by the end of the war in 1945.

My absolute favorite group from my collection, the awards of one of those 550 soldiers who also survived the war. Born in 1917 in Banija, a farmer who joined the uprising in 1941 for which he got Partizanska spomenica 1941./Partisan Commemorative Award of 1941 (award on the left). He was also awarded with an Order for Bravery (award on the right) for the Battle of Sutjeska.

I colorised and repaired some damage on the photo from the booklet.

 

[BalkanCollector]

Document of recognition and gratitude for the soldiers who participated in the Battle of Sutjeska. This one was given to a soldier from 1st Dalmatian Brigade who was 19-20 years old during the battle. By the end of the war he was a commander of company.

[BalkanCollector]

I have a group of photos of this man and I'd like to share these two. He was also a participant in the battle. He was a soldier of 7th Krajina Brigade and was also 19-20 years old at the time of the battle. By the end of the war he was a commander of platoon.

[BalkanCollector]

Transport ticket of the holder of Partizanska spomenica 1941. The number of the booklet is #5,XXX. Sadly, the award and the booklet are missing. The guy who got this was also a participant in the Battle of Sutjeska. He was a quartermaster(?) of a battalion in 3rd Dalmatian Brigade. Not sure how to translate "intendant" so I think quartermaster is close enough. He was 23 years old during the battle.

Edited May 15, 2020 by BalkanCollector

[Drugo]

Very nice items, BalkanCollector!

It's always a plus when you can trace the unit and actions where the decorated person took part, especially when such an important one.

Is Tito's signature on the document original or a fac-simile? I assume only a few hundreds of these could had been awarded in 1958...

 

Cheers,

Drugo

[BalkanCollector]

Thank you very much! Yes, it's a real pleasure when you can trace some info on the man.

Tito's signature actually isn't even a facsimile. It seems like it's a regular print just like the rest of the text. Also, it seems like the name of the guy who got this document was written by hand although I could be wrong.

As for the number awarded, I really don't know. According to the official records there were 22.148 partisans during the battle and around 11.000 of them died during the battle and until the end of the war. I'm not sure how many were still alive in 1958 when these documents were being awarded for 15 years anniversary of the battle and if all of them were awarded with it.

EDIT:
I think that those numbers of how many were killed are based only on the names they could identify. The real number is probably even higher.

Edited May 18, 2020 by BalkanCollector

[Drugo]

Yes, probably fac-simile was not the correct term, I was thinking more of an autopen. Certainly, quite a rare document nowadays. ?

[BalkanCollector]

Here's the latest addition to my collection related to this battle.

I found names of all three women in the list of people who participated in this battle. They fought in 4th Proletarian Montenegrin Brigade. The photo was taken in the late 1944 in Serbian region of Mačva. 

From left to right:

- born in 1910; during the battle she was a company nurse in the 1st battalion (she was awarded with Partizanska spomenica 1941. and an Order for Bravery like the other two women and she most likely wears them in the photo because I've found another photo of her wearing them); she is most likely a zastavnik/sergeant major on the photo and this rank was an officer rank during that time

- born in 1922; during the battle she was a fighter of the 2nd company of the 2nd battalion and by the end of the war she was a referent saniteta brigade/medical referent (officer) of brigade; She is a 2nd lieutenant on the photo

- born in 1912; during the battle she was a nurse in the 1st battalion and by the end of the war referent saniteta bataljona/medical referent (officer) of battalion

[BalkanCollector]

On 15/05/2020 at 10:32, BalkanCollector said:

Document of recognition and gratitude for the soldiers who participated in the Battle of Sutjeska. This one was given to a soldier from 1st Dalmatian Brigade who was 19-20 years old during the battle. By the end of the war he was a commander of company.

I've got another one of these documents and this one is in a much better condition than the previous one although it has clearly been folded before.

This one was also given to a soldier of the 1st Dalmatian Brigade and he was 22-23 years old during the battle. I found his name mentioned in one of the books about his brigade and it states that he secured the evacuation of a group of partisans with many wounded from Korčula island to Hvar island in the late 1944. He was an assistant of the commisar of company at the time.