11 July 2017

0233 | Photo | 181. Infanterie-Division



Partisan attack on Ledenice. After a fierce, 13-day battle, the remnants of the German garrison surrender to the Partisans in Ledenice. The attack on the strongest German stronghold in the Bay of Kotor was carried out by the I and III battalions of the I Boka Brigade and the V Battalion of the II Dalmatian Brigade (of the Littoral Operational Group), reinforced by two artillery battalions, one Partisan and one British. The stronghold was defended by the II Battalion, 334th Regiment, 181st Infantry Division (which was reinforced by elements of the same regiment's I battalion at the end of the battle, when it was already too late). Expecting death upon capture, most Germans did not intend to surrender to the Partisans; when they first hoisted the white flag, on the last day of the battle, and when the Partisans approached, the Germans opened fire (the Partisans later interpreted this move diversely; either it was an intentional, insidious trick, or just a product of disunity, i.e. non-compliance in the German ranks). The Partisans flared up and returned fire even more ferociously, after which white flags reappeared on the German side, this time in a much larger number. However, the Germans still did not plan to surrender; as soon as the Partisans began disarming them, the German commander intervened, protesting angrily: "This is an outrage, now be so kind and pull your mob away from my positions!" He then stated that he did not intend to surrender at all, but only to ask for a truce to take care of the wounded, and added: "You must return our weapons and we will hand our wounded to the British – and when you're all outside my border, we will resume the battle again at an agreed signal!" After a long persuasion and after they were threatened to be massacred if they continue resisting, the German commander and his soldiers finally agreed to lay down their arms. 

Text: Ivan Ž. 

Photographer: unknown.
Date: 18 November 1944.
Location: Ledenice (district of Kotor), Yugoslavia.
Original caption: unknown.

File source: Veselin Đuranović, "Crna Gora 1941–1945" (p. 213).

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Napad NOVJ na Ledenice. Posle žestokih, trinaestodnevnih borbi, ostaci nemačkog garnizona predaju se partizanima u Ledenicama. U napadu na najjače nemačko uporište u Boki Kotorskoj učestvovali su I i III bataljon I bokeljske brigade i V bataljon II dalmatinske brigade (Primorske operativne grupe), ojačani dvama artiljerijskim divizionima, jednim partizanskim i jednim britanskim. Uporište je branio II bataljon 334. puka 181. pešadijske divizije (koji je pred kraj borbe, kada je već bilo prekasno, ojačan delovima I bataljona istog puka). Očekujući smrt po zarobljavanju, većina Nemaca nije imala nameru da se preda partizanima; kada su prvi put istakli belu zastavu, poslednjeg dana borbi, i kada su im se partizani približili, Nemci su otvorili vatru (partizani su ovaj potez kasnije različito tumačili; ili je to bila namerna, podmukla varka, ili samo plod podeljenosti, tj. neusaglašenosti u nemačkim redovima). Partizani su pobesneli i uzvratili još žešćom paljbom, nakon čega su se na nemačkoj strani ponovo zavijorile bele zastave, ovog puta u mnogo većem broju. Međutim, Nemci ni tada nisu planirali da se predaju; čim su partizani počeli da ih razoružavaju, nemački komandant se umešao, ljutito protestujući: "To je bezobrazluk, budite tako ljubazni i povucite vašu rulju sa mojih položaja!" Potom je izjavio da uopšte nije imao nameru da se preda nego samo da zatraži primirje radi zbrinjavanja ranjenika, i dodao: "Morate nam vratiti naše naoružanje, a mi ćemo predati naše ranjenike Britancima – a kada budete svi van moje granice, ponovo ćemo nastaviti borbu na ugovoreni znak!" Posle dugog ubeđivanja i nakon što im je zaprećeno da će u slučaju daljeg otpora biti masakrirani, nemački komandant i njegovi vojnici konačno su pristali da polože oružje. 

Tekst: Ivan Ž. 

Fotograf: nepoznat.
Datum: 18. novembar 1944.
Mesto: Ledenice (srez Kotorski), Jugoslavija.
Originalni natpis: nepoznat.

Izvor fajla: Veselin Đuranović, "Crna Gora 1941–1945" (str. 213).

NIJE DOZVOLJENO: uklanjanje naziva izvora sa fajlova – korišćenje teksta bez navođenja izvornog autora – korišćenje fajlova i informacija u političko-propagandne i komercijalne svrhe.