Diana Budisavljević (15 January 1891 - 20 August 1978) was a humanitarian of Austrian descent who led a major relief effort in Yugoslavia during World War II that rescued over twelve thousand mostly ethnic Serbian children from the Jasenovac concentration camps operated by the Independent State of Croatia.
On this day Diana Budisavljević passed away, heroine who saved 12,000 Serbian children. Diana Budisavljević (15 January 1891 - 20 August 1978) was a humanitarian of Austrian descent who led a major relief effort in Yugoslavia during World War II that rescued over twelve thousand mostly ethnic Serbian children from the Jasenovac concentration camps operated by the Independent State of Croatia. Declaration of the Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church Against the Genocide Inflicted by the Albanians on the Indigenous Serbian Population, Together with the Sacrilege Of Their Cultural Monuments in Their Own Country In Yugoslavia, ever since the end of the Second World War and up to the present day, persecution of the Serbian population and of their religion continues in Kosovo and Methoija, regions of their ten centuries' old homeland. This persecution is being administered by the Albanians, who, after the Second World War, were given Home Rule as an ethnic minority by some of the highest policy-makers in Yugoslavia. In this way, the pre-conditions for the furtherance of the persecution of the Serbian population, and of the Serbian Orthodox Church, were created. During the war, the Albanians were the allies of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. They committed untold atrocities against the Serbian population. Mussolini, in the framework of his plan to create a "Great Albania", transferred 60,000 people from Albania into the regions of Kosovo and Methohija while expelling at the same time more than 100,000 Serbs from that territory. After the war, the highest authorities in Yugoslavia did nothing to correct that injustice. Moreover, the process of migration of Albanians from Albania into Yugoslavia, into the regions of Kosovo and Metohija, continued. Here are some facts about this situation: Today there are 700 villages and towns where not one Serb remains, and yet these places were formerly populated exclusively by Serbs. In the areas which were populated by mixed nationalities, Albanians and Serbs, only 10 percent of the Serbs are still there, but the persecution continues. Contrary to the foregoing facts, however, the western world is given false information and outright lies are told about alleged persecutions of Albanians by Serbs. It is impossible to list all the crimes against the Serbian population committed by the Albanians through the centuries. Many books have been written about the atrocities practised during the occupation of the Serbian territories by the Ottoman Empire. Under the pressure of the Albanians, who adopted Islam, a considerable number of Serbs were driven out from Kosovo and Methohija in two great migrations during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was at that point in history that the Albanians appeared, for the first time in greater numbers, on those territories. The same process was repeated during the First and Second World Wars as well as in the following period when even without a war we have been witnessing a renewed exodus of the Serbian people from their homeland. 1974 -- Yugoslav constitution redrawn, declares Kosovo an autonomous province within Serbia. By the approbation of the new Yugoslav Constitution in 1974, Kosovo gained the right of self-governance. Whereof, Kosovo’s status became equal to other Yugoslav republics, as Kosovo now had the right to independently appoint its highest officials, its president and the government, and its representative for a seat within collective Yugoslav Presidency. Economically, Kosovo was moving ahead in unheard of leaps, with an annual industrial growth rate of 30 percent. With 8 percent of the Yugoslav population, Kosovo was allocated up to 30 percent of the Federal Development Funds. The Kosovo authorities, it was discovered later, used large sums from these funds to buy up land from Serbs and give it to Albanians, clearly a misappropriation Kosovo central bank and its independent police forces were also established, as well as the right to veto laws proclaimed by the Serbian Parliament which affected the province. Except this last prefix,everything seemed smoothly flourishing and going upwards. But just for a couple of years, until March 1981, when new massive demonstrations rocked Kosovo again and caused a total distraction of the Yugoslav communist regim. The greater autonomy that was granted to Kosovo only resulted in greater aspirations for full independence from Serbia and Yugoslavia. The Communist Yugoslav regime created an atmosphere of rising expectations in Kosovo. The more the Serbs gave, the more the Albanians wanted, the more the Albanians took. It was an absurd and paradoxical cycle that was predictably going to lead to disaster. Milunka Savic, 1888-1973: Woman Warrior 1912-1913 marks the centenary of the First and the Second Balkan Wars, a spot of local trouble that would lead to the killing fields of the First World War. They’re not much remembered outside the area except by specialists and presumably relatives. Certainly they didn’t kick up any household names. Which is not to say that there were not people with good stories. People like Milunka Savic. She was a village girl, and either from boredom or patriotism (or possibly because her brother was to ill to go), in 1912 she cut off her hair and presented herself to the recruiting sergeant. Induction was presumably a cursory affair, and she was soon toting gun and bayonet to the front lines. No further record of the brother, but the army got their money’s worth. In fact she was a little late for action in the first war which ended just before she got there, but the second broke out in short order, and she came into her own. Within weeks she was quickly decorated for bravery and after a few assaults at the Battle of Bregalnica (June 30 – July 8, 1913), she was promoted to corporal. Her tenth assault in that battle was a bit too far. She was severely wounded by a grenade in the attack and it was only in the hospital room that the doctors discovered she was not who she had claimed. That was awkward, and her commanding officer said she could transfer to the Nursing Corp. She said she would rather carry a gun. He said he would think about it She said she would wait. He cracked after about an hour, and promoted her to Sergeant. She was simply too famous, too intrepid, too good at what she did. The second Balkan war ended in 1913, but the First World War started the following year, and as it had begun in Serbia, no surprise that the country was invaded. She was ready. The first war saw her wracking up medals for valor. There was the Serbia’s own Order of Star of Karadjordje with Swords, the highest award the country could give. She got it twice. Once at the battle of Battle of Kolubara where she captured twenty German soldiers, the second time at the Battle of the Crna Bend (Crna Reka) for capturing 23 Bulgarian soldiers single handed. Despite her best efforts, the war was not going well for Serbia and her army was forced to retreat, ending up in Corfu where it was reformed as part of the French army (some readers will recall that France wanted to do the same thing with the American Expeditionary Force, but that General Pershing wouldn’t have it.) The French were not about to mess with a winner, though French General Maurice Sarrail was not totally convinced that she was as good as promised, and wagered a case of 1880 cognac that she could not hit a bottle of same at 40 meters. He lost, and she split 19 bottles with the rest of her company. By the time the war was over, France had given her the Legion d’Honeur (twice) , Russian the Cross of St.George, British the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael, Serbia the Milos Obilic medal. She was the only woman to be awarded the Croix de Guerre in the First World War, which may have figured in France’s offer of a pension if she chose to move to that country. She did not. After seven years of almost continual warfare, she returned to Serbia, married, had a child, divorced, raised two adopted children. During the Second World War she operated a small hospital to treat wounded partisans, which was enough for the Germans to put her in a prison camp. She remained there for ten months, and was slated to be executed when a German officer saw her name on the list of prisoners, confirmed her identity, and ordered that she be released immediately. Chivalry comes out in the oddest places. After the war she fell into official disfavor in Tito’s Yugoslavia and worked as a cleaning woman for the Hipotekarna Bank, generally forgotten until late in life. Died of a stroke in 1973 and was buried in Novo groblje cemetery in the Alley of the Meritorious with full state and military honors. By Bruce Ware Allen Milunka Savić GCMG (Serbian: Милунка Савић, 1888 – 5 October 1973) was a Serbian war heroine who fought in the Balkan Wars and in the First World War. She is recognised as the most-decorated female combatant in the entire history of warfare. She was wounded no fewer than nine times during her term-of-service. Military caree Savić was born in 1888, in the village of Koprivnica, near Raška, in Serbia. In 1913, her brother received call-up papers for mobilization for the Second Balkan War. She chose to go in his place—cutting her hair and donning men's clothes and joining the Serbian army. She quickly saw action and received her first medal and was promoted to corporal in the Battle of Bregalnica. Engaged in battle, she sustained wounds and it was only then, when recovering from her injuries in hospital, that her true sex was revealed, much to the surprise of the attending physicians. Mental Floss described the repercussions: "Savic was called before her commanding officer. They didn't want to punish her, because she had proven a valuable and highly competent soldier. The military deployment that had resulted in her gender being revealed had been her tenth. But neither was it suitable for a young woman to be in combat. She was offered a transfer to the Nursing division. Savic stood at attention and insisted she only wanted to fight for her country as a combatant. The officer said he'd think it over and give her his answer the next day. Still standing at attention, Savic responded, "I will wait." It is said he only made her stand an hour before agreeing to send her back to the infantry." In 1914, in the early days of World War I, Savić was awarded her first Karađorđe Star with Swords after the Battle of Kolubara. She received her second Karađorđe Star (with Swords) after the Battle of Crna Reka in 1916 when she captured 23 Bulgarian soldiers single-handedly. Military honours She was awarded the French Légion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour) twice,Russian Cross of St. George,British medal of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael, Serbian Miloš Obilić medal. She was the sole female recipient of the French Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 with the gold palm attribute for service in World War I. Later life She was demobilised in 1919, and turned down an offer to move to France, where she was eligible to collect a comfortable French army pension. Instead, she chose to live in Belgrade and found work as a postal worker. In 1923, she married Veljko Gligorijević, whom she met in Mostar, and divorced immediately after the birth of their daughter Milena. In the interwar period, Milunka was largely forgotten by the general public. She worked several menial jobs up to 1927, after which she had steady employment as a cleaning lady in the State Mortgage Bank. Eight years later, she was promoted to cleaning the offices of the general manager. During the German occupation of Serbia of the Second World War, Milunka refused to attend a banquet organised by Milan Nedić, which was to be attended by German generals and officers. She was arrested and taken to Banjica concentration camp, where she was imprisoned for ten months. After the advent of socialism in 1945, she was given a state pension, and continued to live in her house in Belgrade's Voždovac neighborhood. By the late 1950s her daughter was in hospital, and she was living in a crumbling house in Voždovac with her three adopted children: Milka, a forgotten child from the railway station in Stalac; Radmila-Višnja; and Zorka, a fatherless girl from Dalmatia. Later, when she attended the jubilee celebrations wearing her military medals, other military officers spoke with her and heard of her courageous actions. News spread and at last she gained recognition. In 1972, public pressure and a newspaper article highlighting her difficult housing and financial situation led to her being given a small apartment by the Belgrade City Assembly. She died in Belgrade on 5 October 1973, aged 84, and was buried in Novo groblje. A street in Belgrade is named after her. In 1971 Ljubomir Vucinic was forced out of the village of Ljubovac near Srbica in Kosovo. Another 80 Serbian families were driven out and only six families remained there. They were all forced out by threats, barrages of stone-throwing and the firing of guns around their houses at night. In the same way, the whole village population was forced to leave the village of Gornja Prekaza near Srbica. The most respected Serb, Aleksandar Milosevic, was the last to leave the village with his large family. He is now employed as a labourer in Belgrade. While the Serbs, were still there, the Albanians destroyed the Christian Orthodox cemetery. It is known that in that village since 1960, the Albanians from neighbouring villages were practising the kind of lawlessness reminiscent of the Turkish Rule: under threat the Serbs were obliged to surrender to them a quarter of the yield from their fields. Milan Scepanovic from the village of Dasinovic near Decani refused to abandon his land. On the 18th July 1971 his neighbour, an Albanian, shot Milan in the head. The wound caused Milan to lose an eye and an ear but the assailant was never punished. Milan Scepanovic had to leave his home even though he was a war veteran who had been decorated for his bravery. He is now living in the village of Jelenac, near Topola (Serbia). When left without any males in her family Stanica Pesic of Donje Ratiste near Decani had her house and 12 acres of land appropriated by her Albanian neighbour. At the end of three years of long court proceedings, the court's decision was most baffling: Stanica Pesic was to receive 150.000 Dinars from the village council and the Albanian neighbour was to keep the house and the land in his possession. That sum was just sufficient for Stanica to buy the train tickets for herself and her four daughters. On the land of the brothers Djurisic, near Decani, several Albanian houses were built without the consent of the owners. Following that, the Djurisic brothers were expelled from the remaining land. The village authorities cut down three times the orchards of Mirko and Mirka Stefanovic in the centre of Decani under the pretext that it was necessary for the planning of the motorway. Three more houses of their neighbours, also Serbs, were knocked down |
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