page_title: Pećanac Chetniks
section_title: Collaboration with occupation and quisling forces
hierarchical_section_title: Pećanac Chetniks / Collaboration with occupation and quisling forces
caption_attribution_description: English: "Proclamation issued by Chetnik commander Kosta Milovanovic Pecanac which calls upon the Serb population to fight against the Communist partisan rebellion led by Josip Broz Tito. The proclamation, which bears the stamp of the Gorcki-Moravskog Chetnik Command, orders all those hiding in the forests, not under Chetnik command, to return to their homes within 8 days or face punishment by death. The document further states that anyone who has tried to damage state-owned or private property such as railroads, bridges, roads and buildings, or property belonging to the occupying power, will be punished by death." Српски / srpski: "Neodgovorni elementi ruše i pale naše domove, ubijaju i ono malo Srba što je u životu ostalo. Pljačke na sve strane. Siluju naše kćeri i naše žene. Sve to čine pod svetim imenom srpskih Četnika, na čijem čelu ja stojim. [...] Svi koji se nalaze skriveni u šumama, a nisu pod mojom komandom, imaju se u roku od 8 dana vratiti kućama i svome redovnom poslu. [...] Za neizvršenje prednjeg kazniće se smrću."
context_page_description: The Pećanac Chetniks, also known as the Black Chetniks, were a collaborationist Chetnik irregular military force which operated in the German-occupied territory of Serbia under the leadership of vojvoda Kosta Pećanac. They were loyal to the German-backed Serbian puppet government.
  Pećanac was eventually denounced as a traitor by the Yugoslav government-in-exile, and the Germans concluded that his detachments were inefficient, unreliable, and of little military aid to them. The Germans and the puppet government disbanded the organisation between September 1942 and March 1943, and Pećanac was interned for some time afterwards before being killed in mid-1944 by forces loyal to his Chetnik rival Draža Mihailović.
context_section_description: On 18 August 1941, while he was concluding arrangements with the Germans, Pećanac received a letter from rival Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović proposing an arrangement where Pećanac would control the Chetniks south of the Western Morava River while Mihailović would control the Chetniks in all other areas. Pećanac declined this request and suggested that he might offer Mihailović the position as his chief of staff. He also recommended that Mihailović's detachments disband and join his organisation. In the meantime, Pećanac had arranged for the transfer of several thousand of his Chetniks to the Serbian Gendarmerie to act as German auxiliaries.
  On 27 August, Pećanac issued an open "Proclamation to the Dear People", in which he portrayed himself as the defender and protector of Serbs and, referring to Mihailović's units, called on "detachments that have been formed without his approval" to come together under his command. He demanded that individuals hiding in the forests return to their homes immediately and that acts of sabotage directed at the occupation authorities cease or suffer the punishment of death. The communist leader Josip Broz Tito and all members of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia left Belgrade on 16 September 1941 using documents issued to Tito by Dragoljub Milutinović who was voivode of Pećanac Chetniks. Since Pećanac was already fully cooperating with the Germans by this time, this assistance caused some to speculate that Tito left Belgrade with the blessing of the Germans because his task was to divide the rebel forces, similar to Lenin's arrival in Russia.
  In September 1941, some of Pećanac's subordinates broke ranks to join the Partisans in fighting the Germans and their Serbian auxiliaries. In the mountainous Kopaonik region, a previously loyal subordinate of Pećanac began attacking local gendarmerie stations and clashing with armed bands of Albanian Muslims. By the end of October the Germans decided to stop arming the "unreliable" elements within Pećanac's Chetniks, and attached the remainder to their other Serbian auxiliary forces.
  On 7 October 1941, Pećanac sent a request to the head of the Serbian puppet government, Milan Nedić, for trained officers, supplies, arms, salary funds, and more. Over time his requests were fulfilled, and a German liaison officer was appointed at Pećanac's headquarters to help coordinate actions. On 17 January 1942, according to German data, 72 Chetnik officers and 7,963 men were being paid and supplied by the Serbian Gendarmerie. This fell short of their maximum authorised strength of 8,745 men, and included two or three thousand of Mihailović's Chetniks who had been "legalised" in November 1941. In the same month, Pećanac sought permission from the Italians for his forces to move into eastern Montenegro, but was refused due to Italian concerns that the Chetniks would move into the Sandžak.
  In April 1942, the German Commanding General in Serbia, General der Artillerie Paul Bader, issued orders giving the unit numbers C–39 to C–101 to the Pećanac Chetnik detachments, which were placed under the command of the local German division or area command post. These orders required the deployment of a German liaison officer with all detachments engaged in operations, and also limited their movement outside their assigned area. Supplies of arms and ammunition were also controlled by the Germans. In July 1942, Mihailović arranged for the Yugoslav government-in-exile to denounce Pećanac as a traitor, and his continuing collaboration ruined what remained of the reputation he had developed in the Balkan Wars and World War I.
caption: Pećanac's "Proclamation to the Dear People"
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