Mass graves of communist victims finally being unearthed
Source: International Herald Tribune
Many of the victims were Slovenians and Croats. But the mass graves undoubtedly include Serbian fighters from 3 SDK regiments that reached Austria, by that point controlled by the Allies. It was a British commander that gave his word that they would not be handed back to the communists. They were however loaded onto trains and sent back to Yugoslavia. Some managed to escape en route, some reached the communist concentration camps and escaped before their execution. The majority were tortured then killed. Luckily my grand-father was in one of the regiments that reached Italy. The men of those regiments were not handed back to the communists. The vast majority never saw their homeland again and spent the rest of their lives in countries such as America, Britain, and Germany.
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serbia sdk communist crimes world war yugoslavia
posted by serbialives admin at 1:15 PM
5 Comments:
"It was a British commander that gave his word that they would not be handed back to the communists. They were however loaded onto trains and sent back to Yugoslavia."
Not that it's any consolation, but if I had any say in the matter, I'd shoot that man myself and I'm a Brit. Just wanted to make the point that we're not all scum like that.
That was a time when someones word still meant something. I don't know the details of the incident but it is possible that he made a promise he was not aware that he could not keep, since the order came from above him.
Just to make things clear I wasn't trying to make a point about individual British people, just this guy. Although it must be pointed out that the British government did contribute to the suffering of the Serbian people firstly by instigating the coup that dragged us into the war, and secondly by supporting the communists once we were under German occupation.
Yes, the British government has something of a history of betraying everyone, from its own people to other people. I just pray that some day those betrayals will be put to rights, and a worthy government installed.
Indeed!
Nikola has a point. The order that came from on high was doubtless part of Operation Keelhaul, described by Julius Epstein in Operation Keelhaul The Story of Forced Repatriation (Devin-Adair, 1973). It was probably the most depressing book I ever read. Or tried to. I couldn't bear to read more than a third of it.
David Niven starred in "Before Winter Comes," a 1969 film that dealt with this issue only tangentially, but the dark note was there.
Wikipedia's entry is here.
Mrsmith is right on the money about the present British government and its betrayal of its subjects.
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