Dimitrije Ljotić
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Dimitrije Ljotić (Димитрије Љотић) (August 12, 1891, Belgrade - April 22, 1945, Ajdovščina) was a Serbian politician and German collaborationist during World War II. Although born in Belgrade he spent most of his life in Smederevo. His ancestors came to Serbia from village of Blace in what is today Greek Macedonia in the first half of 19th century. His father Vladimir Ljotić was consul in Thessaloniki, mayor of Smederevo and an MP in the Serbian Parliament. He started his education in Smederevo, graduated at the age of 16 from the Serbian Lycee in Thesaloniki, and concluded his education by graduating at law school in Belgrade.
During the Balkan wars he volunteered for military medical service. In 1913 he stayed in Paris where he remained until the beginning of World War I; soon after he returned to Serbia and enlisted in the Serbian Army. After the Great War he served as commander of a railway station in Bakar, Croatia where he broke a railway strike arresting 36 workers. This event proved crucial in his life and career since it determined his choice to become a politician rather than a clergyman. In Bakar he met his wife Ivka, with whom he moved back to Smederevo in 1920 and started practicing law. In Smederevo he joined the Radical party soon becoming president of the Youth branch. In 1931 King Alexander I proclaimed him Minister of Justice in the government of Petar Živković, in which capacity he would make a new draft Constitution and present it to the King. He proposed voters should vote in free and secret elections whilst candidates would be nominated by non-governmental organizations. The King refused his proposal and Ljotić resigned from office.
After the resignation he worked on gathering people who shared his vision and beliefs. On January 6, 1935, Dimitrije Ljotić was elected president of the newly formed party ZBOR which some compared to fascist movements in other countries. In the same year his party won 0.86% of the vote, and continued receiving similar election ratings until the beginning of the World War II. After Yugoslavia had been attacked by Axis he volunteered to the Army and as a reserve officer went to Bjeljina, where he was greeted by news of capitulation and consequently went back to Smederevo.
He soon joined negotiations with the German occupation forces to form a civil government in occupied Serbia, the so-called Commissar administration, but refused to join in the government. After the demise of the Commisar administration, a new civil government was formed headed by Milan Nedić, a man Ljotić nominated personally. Ljotić declined once more to join the government, but two ZBOR members did not share his choice. One of the two, Mihailo Olćan, proposed the formation of the Serbian Volunteer Command which would engage in fighting against the partisans, having Dimitrije Ljotić as their ideological leader.
In the summer of 1941 he made his first contact with Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović. Ljotić promised assistance and relief in food and weapons to Chetniks. As the end of the war was approaching Ljotić, together with most of Serbian anti-communist forces, sought refuge in Slovenia; there he was scheming, with Slovenian collaborators, for the restoration of the Yugoslav monarchy.
On April 22, 1945 Ljotić was to meet Patriarch Gavrilo and Bishop Nikolaj. His driver Ratko Živadinović had very bad vision. During the night they had been stopped by a Slovenian road patrol and forewarned that road was severely damaged; a few minutes later they fell from a broken bridge into a river. Both Ljotić and his driver died at the scene. Dimitrije Ljotić was buried in Gorica, Slovenia.
