Information extracted from Ein Teil der blutigen Geschichte (A Part of the Bloody History), a 1976 publication by Slavko Grubisić. These excerpts offer a Croatian viewpoint on events in Bosnia during World War II and the interwar Kingdom of Yugoslavia, emphasizing grievances against Serbian rule and forces.
Atrocities in Foča
One harrowing account describes a burned-down tobacco factory in Foča. According to the text, Serbian fascists locked people inside the building and set it ablaze. Among the victims who perished was the tobacco factory director, Sulejman Deovic. The picture referenced shows the remains of a burned tobacco warehouse in Foča, into which Serbian fascists forced citizens before igniting the structure.
The passages states that in the area, Muslim Croats were among the most affected, with Serbs allegedly taking revenge for atrocities committed by the Turks in Serbia approximately 200 years earlier.
Serbian Rule
A central theme in the text is the intensity of Croatian resentment toward Serbian dominance:
“The Turks over the course of 400 years were not as difficult for the Croats as the 55 years of Serbian tyranny. That is why the hatred of the Croats for the Serbian imperialists is so great, regardless of whether they call themselves fascist Chetniks, communist partisans, or any other…”
This comparison frames Ottoman rule as less burdensome than the period of Yugoslav (Serb-led) governance from roughly 1918 onward. The author portrays Croatian resistance as a response to Serbian plundering and imperialism. Croatian parties, including the Croatian Peasant Party led by the pacifist Stjepan Radić, sharply condemned “Serbian megalomania.”
The text accuses Serbian authorities of assassinations and threats, such as the murder of philosopher Milan Šufflay in Zagreb and an attempt on writer Mile Budak, alongside inflammatory statements by minister Svetozar Pribičević.
It further asserts that Croats would no longer tolerate such conditions and would fight for a free Croatian Republic. References are made to the Kingdom of Croatia during the Starčević era (when Bosnia and Herzegovina were under Turkish rule) and states that under Serbian “Brotherhood and Unity,” Croatia appeared larger on maps than in later configurations.
Scenes of Devastation and Resistance
Additional passages depict widespread destruction:
The city of Rogatica and its surroundings were heavily devastated in the early days of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH).
Images and descriptions include Croats under the command of Chetnik commander Milan Cigović (or Cigovic), and the burned house of a railway guard between Goražde and Foča.
Accounts of women disarming Serbian generals and commissioners, suggesting broad popular resistance that made outright suppression impossible without facing the entire Croatian people.
Source
Ein Teil der blutigen Geschichte. Slavko Grubisić. 1976
