Battle of Odžak Battle of Odžak was the last World War II battle on the European continent . The battle began on 19 April 1945 and lasted until 25 May 1945 , 17 days after the end of the war in Europe . The combatants were the Croatian Armed Forces commanded by Petar Rajkovačić and the Yugoslav Partisans commanded by Miloš Zekić . The battle took place in the Bosnian town of Odžak . The battle was a Pyrrhic victory for the Partisans . The Battle of Odžak was suppressed in the Communist Yugoslavia . The only news about the battle came out on 1 June 1975 in a Serbian newspaper " NIN " . First stage . In May 1945 , the Croatian Armed Forces ( HOS ) started to retreat towards Austria after Ante Pavelić ' s decision that they wouldn ' t defend Zagreb ; however , some 10 , 000 soldiers led by brothers Ivan and Petar Rajkovačić decided to defend Zagreb afterall . On 19 April 1945 , they possessed town of Odžak and 24 nearby villages and made a stronghold at the mouth of Bosnia river entering Sava river . The stronghold was successfully defended for more than a month , despite the attacks of the elite Partisan units coordinated with the artillery , tanks and even air force . The Odžak stronghold fell on 25 May , 15 days after the end of war in Europe . The Serbian newspaper NIN , reported that between 19 and 28 April , there was a fierce combat with constant Partisan charges at the " Ustaše " strongholds . Between those two dates , Croatian defenders killed around 630 Partisans and destroyed an entire battalion of the 27th Division and killed a commander of the 16th Brigade of the same division , Spaso Mičić . From the equipments , the Partisans lost three batteries of artillery , three mortars and one anti - tank gun . The NIN also reports that " the enemy was much more dangerous and insidious then a German soldier . . . the " Ustaše " fought to death . " The remaining members of HOS were defending what it left of the Independent State of Croatia , an narrow area between Bosna and Sava that included Novigrad , Donji Brezik , Vlaška Mala , Odžak and Mrka Ada . Moreover , in that area , there was a lot of Bosnian Muslim refugees from Kladanj , Plehana , Žepče , Sivše , Gračanica and nearby populated places . The Supreme Command of the 3rd Partisan Corps , composed of 27th , 28th and 53rd Division , ordered immediate attack on the HOS ' stronghold or the divisional headquarters would be considered responsible . Vlaška Mala combats . Eventually , the Partisans pushed away the Croatian defenders to Vlaška Mala , a village without any natural defence line , it was a clear field . Some HOS commanders that found themselves in a hopeless situation started to negotiate with the partisans , but negotiations ended in partisan attack . Smaller number of HOS soldiers surrendered to them as POWs , but they were later found mutilated by the Croatian soldiers . Such actions of partisans probably made the Croatian defenders to fight so fanatically . The Croatian defenders built the trenches , every trench was enough for a squad . As the terrain was plane , the defenders had a review of all access roads . As their munition supply was low , they tried to achieve as much as possible hits . The defenders made a tactic very odd to the Partisan commanders , they would let Partisan units to approach 10 metres and then would open fire at them . The Partisan losses were massive . Many Partisans were left wounded at the battlefield without any possible help . Another contributor to the massive Partisan losses was their effort to save the flags of units . Many Partisans would be killed just because they tried to save their flag . Croatian counterattack . The defenders ' stronghold was attacked from direction of Duge Njive and Lipik . The Partisans would launch an attack after attack , but they failed to push away the defenders . In order to enable his units a wider movement space , Rajkovačić ordered expansion of the defence line . He commanded the left wing , while he let Ivan Calušić to command the western one . Rajkovačić divided his units into four platoons and a company commanded by Nikola Šanjić also joined him . The local volunteers that were under Rajkovačić ' s command , joined the Calušić ' s unit , as Rajkovačić expected full discipline and readiness , which they didn ' t have as they weren ' t professional soldiers . Rajkovačić also formed the storm units which would execute counterattacks , while a smaller unit , which he commanded would be in the center of a counter - attack . Those in the last line of defence , positioned in the very village , were assigned to brake the Partisan defence lines . When at the beginning of May 1945 , the Partisan attacks started to falter , Rajkovačić ordered an counter - attack . The Partisans didn ' t expected a massive counterattack and their defence was broken very fast , while the defenders captured the Municipality Building , which were also the Partisan headquarters . The battle was so brutal that every home in Odžak was destroyed , while every field was a scaffold . After the Croatian defenders recaptured Odžak and built the new defence lines which will last until 25 May . The Partisans were decimated . The 20th Serb Storm Brigade entered an area controlled by the Croatian soldiers , and within a few hours , the who brigade was killed . The Serb Partisan units , exhausted from fighting , proclaimed the unarmed civilians the " " Ustaše " criminals " so they massacred helpless elderly , women and children . Group of the Croatian defenders , led by Ibrahim Pjanić and Avdaga Hasić decided to make a breakthorugh against the 14th Partisan Brigade . The 14th Brigade was known as a " brigade that accustomed to victory " ; however , they run away in front of the attack and let the group to breakthrough without any fight . During the Battle of Odžak , a struggle for every ditch and house was fierce , while objects would be taken only with help of artillery and air force . As reported by NIN , " in order to capture an object , every " Ustaše " needs to be killed " . The Croatian defenders continued to fight even after the Partisan aviation dropped bombs and used machine guns . Commander of the defence , Petar Rajkovačić was wounded two times by the air force strike , but refused to surrender . He committed suicide on 25 May 1945 , on the day when Battle of Odžak was over . Partisan decisive attack . The broken partisan units were reinforced with the elements of the 27th Division from Tuzla , composed out of 19th Birćanska Brigade , 20th Romanija Brigade and 16th Brigade . Meanwhile , the famous Partisan commander , Mato Belić , who known the town of Odžak very well , supposed to brake the defence and capture the town . In order to recapture Odžak , the Partisans were equipped with the most modern weapons of the time . The casualties weren ' t important , the Odžak had to be captured , as ordered by Josip Broz Tito , the Marshall of Yugoslavia . The Partisans equipped artillery , mortars and the Soviet " Katyusha " rocket launchers . They were also connected by the radio so the Partisans launched attack by attack , however , they were always thrown away by the defenders . Tito ' s birthday was very near , so the Supreme Command insisted that the defence must be broken before the birthday . Members of the General Staff decided to send the air force . They composed two squadron s which travelled from Belgrade to Odžak . Those aircraft operated on 23 and 24 May . They bombed Odžak , Ada , Balegovac , Dubica , Prud , Vojskova and Osječak , while the most bombs have been dropped on Vlaška Mala . The Vlaška Mala bunker and elementary school were completely destroyed ; the elementary school sreved as Rajkovačić ' s headquarters . Partisans also used the long - range artillery together with bombings . Majority of victims were , however , the civilians . The Croatian defenders divided into two groups and planned the breakthrough . The one group was order to breakthrough the Odžak hospital and save the wounded . The Croatian defence lines were broken and the strongest town ' s stronghold , the Nuića Štala , had also fallen . The combat in the town itself lasted to night of 24 and 25 May . On that night , both groups started the breakthrough . One group moved towards the mountainous part of the municipality , while other moved to Prud . In Vlaška Mala , tens of soldiers left around the Nuića Štala . More than 700 defenders that were in Vlaška Mala succeeded to brake the partisan encirclement and moved to Potočani and Lipa . The group that was moving towards Prud succeeded to avoid one encirclement , but entered the other . Those who defended the Nuića Štala fought to last man . After they were killed , the Partisans captured the hospital and within it found a lot of wounded and civilians . They were brutally massacred . Partisans also killed every civilian that they have found . They were thrown in a mass grave in the nearby garden . The place is known as the Nuić Cemetery . Aftermath . The first group that failed to brake another encirclement was taken away to captivity . The other group succeeded to enter Lipa and Plandišće . The Partisans in Odžak started to arrest all males from 15 years and older , often killing boys old around ten years . Those defenders captured were taken in front of firing machine . Those who surrendered to Partisans were also immediately executed . The Partisans would kill anyone without making any report . The last remaining group of defenders went to forest and continued to fight as guerrilla . The last man of this group was killed in spring 1947 in Lipa . Supression of the battle . In Communist Yugoslavia , mention of the Battle of Odžak was prohibited to mention the . Any mention of the battle was considered " a plot against the Yugoslav brotherly union " . The Serbian newspaper " NIN " was the only paper to write about it . It published two feuilletons and published some documents connected to the battle . In order to avoid mentioning the battle , the official " liberation day " of Odžak wasn ' t 25 May but 14 April .