Death of Dimitrije Ljotić. Members of the Dinara Chetnik Division posing with the car in which Dimitrije Ljotić, former Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, founder of the Yugoslav National Movement "Zbor" and spiritual leader of the Serbian Volunteer Corps, lost his life the previous night. On 23 April 1945 (two weeks before the end of the war), accompanied by publicist Ratko Živadinović, engineer Svetolik Lazarević and judge Jovan Saračević, Ljotić left by car (at about 4 p.m.) from Villa del Nevoso, where he was in charge of the corps' training centre, for San Pietro di Gorizia, and the Dinara Chetnik Division Headquarters, to say goodbye to Patriarch Gavrilo and Bishop Nikolaj, who were leaving the zone the next day (the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral, where they were invited to visit Serbian monarchist troops). Sitting behind the steering wheel was the owner of the vehicle, short-sighted Živadinović. Due to poor road conditions and additional problems, a trip that takes an hour today was stretched to five hours. Upon arriving in Aidussina (25 km from the destination), Ljotić's group was warned of the presence of Partisans. It was already dark. Despite the opposite advice, Ljotić decided to continue the journey – with headlights off, so that they would not be noticed. Approximately halfway between Aidussina and San Pietro, the car encountered a destroyed bridge and ended up in a nearby ditch. Ljotić was killed on the spot, Živadinović suffered serious injuries, of which he later died, and Lazarević broke his jaw and leg (Saračević was not injured). Ljotić's body was taken by the Dinara Chetniks to San Pietro the next day, where he was buried a day later.
Text: Ivan Ž.
Photographer: unknown.
Date: 24 April 1945.
Location: unknown (province of Gorizia), Italy.
Original caption: unknown.
Sources: Stevan Piroćanac, Srpski dobrovoljci 1941–1945 u reči i slici, Iskra, Northampton, 1991, p. 267; Borivoje M. Karapandžić, Građanski rat u Srbiji 1941–1945, Društvo Hilandar, Valjevo, 2010, pp. 377–381; Hermann Neubacher, Specijalni zadatak Balkan (trans. Nikola Živković), Službeni list SCG, Beograd, 2004, pp. 178, 182; Google Maps.
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Pogibija Dimitrija Ljotića. Pripadnici Dinarske četničke divizije poziraju pored automobila u kojem je prethodne noći poginuo Dimitrije Ljotić, bivši ministar pravde Kraljevine Jugoslavije, osnivač Jugoslovenskog narodnog pokreta "Zbor" i duhovni vođa Srpskog dobrovoljačkog korpusa. Dana 23. aprila 1945. godine (dve nedelje pred kraj rata), u pratnji publiciste Ratka Živadinovića, inženjera Svetolika Lazarevića i sudije Jovana Saračevića, Ljotić je (oko 16 časova) pošao kolima iz Ilirske Bistrice, gde je upravljao korpusnim centrom za obuku, u Šempeter pri Gorici, u štab Dinarske četničke divizije, da se oprosti sa patrijarhom Gavrilom i vladikom Nikolajem, koji su sutradan napuštali zonu (Operativnu zonu Jadransko primorje, gde su bili pozvani u posetu srpskim monarhističkim trupama). Za volanom je sedeo vlasnik vozila, kratkovidi Živadinović. Zahvaljujući lošim putevima i dodatnim poteškoćama, putovanje koje danas traje sat vremena odužilo se na pet sati. Po pristizanju u Ajdovščinu (25 km od cilja), Ljotićeva grupa je upozorena na prisustvo partizana. Bio je već uveliko mrak. Uprkos odvraćanju, Ljotić je odlučio da se put nastavi – sa ugašenim farovima, da ne bi bili primećeni. Na otprilike pola puta između Ajdovščine i Šempetra, kola su naišla na porušeni most i završila u obližnjem jarku. Ljotić je na licu mesta poginuo, Živadinović je zadobio teške povrede, kojima je kasnije podlegao, a Lazarević je slomio vilicu i nogu (Saračević nije povređen). Ljotićevo telo su dinarski četnici sutradan preneli u Šempeter, gde je dan kasnije i sahranjen.
Tekst: Ivan Ž.
Fotograf: nepoznat.
Datum: 24. april 1945.
Mesto: nepoznato (provincija Gorica), Italija.
Originalni natpis: nepoznat.
Izvori: Stevan Piroćanac, Srpski dobrovoljci 1941–1945 u reči i slici, Iskra, Northampton, 1991, str. 267; Borivoje M. Karapandžić, Građanski rat u Srbiji 1941–1945, Društvo Hilandar, Valjevo, 2010, str. 377–381; Hermann Neubacher, Specijalni zadatak Balkan (prev. Nikola Živković), Službeni list SCG, Beograd, 2004, str. 178, 182; Google Maps.
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