Petar Drapšin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 15 November 1914 |
| Died | 2 November 1945(1945-11-02) (aged 30) |
| Allegiance | Second Spanish Republic Yugoslavia |
| Branch | International Brigades Yugoslav People's Army |
| Years of service | 1937–1939 1941–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands | 12th Slavonian Division 6th Corps 8th Corps 4th Army |
| Battles / wars |
|
| Awards | |
Petar Drapšin (Serbian Cyrillic:Петар Драпшин; 15 November 1914 – 2 November 1945) was aSerbian andYugoslavPartisan commander.
Drapšin was born to a family of poor peasant farmers in the village ofTurija nearSrbobran (Szenttamás),Austria-Hungary a few months intoWorld War I. By the time he reached school age, the war ended, resulting in the Austro-Hungarian defeat and disintegration along with formation of a new stateKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
He completed primary school in his village before going to nearby Srbobran for lower gymnasium studies.
He then moved to the country's capitalBelgrade,apprenticing for atradesman position. After completing his trade term, he enrolled in the streamlined technical high school where he first got introduced to theworkers' movement ideas under the auspices of theCommunist Party (KPJ), a political organization banned in theKingdom of Yugoslavia. Active in the school's literary section that actively spread communist ideas, Drapšin also joined KPJ's youth wingSKOJ.
In 1937 he went toPrague for university studies.
Soon after that, he went to fight in theSpanish Civil War, joining theRepublican side as one of theYugoslav volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. He excelled in combat, earning the rank of captain in the process. After the demise ofSecond Spanish Republic, he was interned inFrance. From there he escaped toZagreb in 1939.
In 1941, following theAxis invasion of Yugoslavia, Drapšin was given the task of organizing armed uprising in theHerzegovina region by theYugoslav Communist Party (KPJ). His hardline approach resulted in him over-reaching his task by dealing ruthlessly with civilians who did not subscribe to his revolutionary zealousness. This led to widespread accounts among the Partisans of his excesses. These included that in spring 1942 his men executed sixty villagers, and then danced around their corpses, in front of the relatives of the dead. This was done to remind the local population of the absolute power of the Partisans. Drapšin was sanctioned by KPJ headquarters for these actions, but his combat skills led to a series of promotions.[1] In January 1943, he was appointed as the commander ofYugoslav National Liberation Army's (YNLA)12th Slavonian Division. Two months later he received the rank of major general. In May 1944 he became commander of YNLA's8th Corps. During summer 1944, Drapšin became deputy commander of theCroatian National Liberation Army (NOVH), the Croatian branch of YNLA.
In December 1944 Drapšin was sent toDalmatia to command YNLA's8th Corps. In January 1945 he received the rank of lieutenant general. Units under his command halted German offensive in Dalmatian hinterland in January 1945 and liberated Herzegovina during theMostar Operation.
Soon after that the 8th Corps got transformed into the4th Army, which began theLika-Primorje operation, an offensive against the remainingAxis forces in Yugoslavia in late March 1945. Despite difficult terrain and need for complicated amphibious operation, Drapšin's force scored spectacular success by piercing through enemy lines inLika, defeating German forces in theRijeka operation, landing inIstria and enteringTrieste before Allied forces. This Partisan offensive was arguably the most important in the history of Yugoslavia, because it allowed Istria,Rijeka andSlovene Littoral to become part ofSFR Yugoslavia, laterCroatia and Slovenia.
After the war Drapšin was entered as candidate for theNational Assembly at the post-war elections.
Details surrounding Drapšin's untimely death are uncertain. There are contradictory accounts about his death on 2 November 1945. The official version attributes the cause of death to an accidentally discharged pistol. Other stories tell about Drapšin being criticised at a party meeting and committing suicide afterwards.
The author and former Partisan Sava Skoko described Drapšin as a "psychologically unstable person whose condition bordered on complete insanity".[1] Skoko also disputes the official communist version of Drapšin's death and claims that he committed suicide.
In 1953, he posthumously received the honour of thePeople's Hero of Yugoslavia.
Partisans | |
|---|---|
Chetniks | |
Germany | |
Italy | |
Albania.svg) | |
Independent State of Croatia | |
German-occupied territory of Serbia | |
Italian governorate of Montenegro | |
Province of Ljubljana | |
