Suchergebnisse

At the end of 1944 NDH was in a very difficult military and political position. Not only were strong Tito's Partisan forces operating on its territory, but at the same time Soviets and Partisans occupied Serbia and advanced to the eastern border of NDH. This was the reason for the NDH authorities to reorganise their existing armed forces, and also to organise a nation-wide mobilisation. This organization, which was under control of the civilian authorities, was intended to be filled with men not serving in the armed forces and women. Its main purpose was to help war efforts with various labor activities (agricultural works, construction of fortifications). There were also plans to create armed units of people's defence, but NDH was short of infantry weapons even for its armed forces, so these plans were never materialized. Because of the difficult military situation, people's defence units were never organized in most parts of the NDH. At the same time NDH armed forces organized the People's Uprising Corps under the command of general Metzger. This unit, which was much more effective than the people's defence, was active in Slavonia, Srijem and northern Bosnia and filled with around 40 000 civilians living in that area. Its main duties were agricultural works on farms abandoned by their owners (Volksdeutsche) who were evacuated to the Third Reich, repairment of roads, construction of field fortifications, guard duties, etc. (SOI : CSP: S. 49)

Rezension von: Cigar, Norman: Genocide in Bosnia. The policy of "ethnic cleansing". College Station/Tex. : Texas A&M Univ. Press, 1995. XVI, 242 S