Milan Kalabić
| Milan Kalabić | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1886 |
| Died | 3 October 1942 |
| Allegiance |
.svg.png){kind=small} Kingdom of Serbia Government of National Salvation Chetniks (Spy) |
| Years of service | 1924–1942 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit |
Nikšić gendarmerie (1924) Serbian State Guard (1942) |
| Battles/wars |
Balkan Wars First World War Second World War |
Milan Kalabić (Serbian: Милан Калабић ; 1886–1942) was a Serbian Lieutenant Colonel that fought in the First World War, known later for his unlawful killings, and his work in the Serbian quisling government in the Second World War as officer and county prefect, at the same time aiding the rival Chetniks, which would result in his execution by the Gestapo. He was the father of Nikola Kalabić, the well-known Chetnik voivode.
Life
Origin
Milan was born in 1886, in the village of Podnovlje, near Derventa. His father, Nikola, was a participant in the Russo-Turkish War 1876–1878 and in the liberation of Bulgaria. In 1912, with the start of the First Balkan War, Milan flees to Serbia and joins the Serbian army as a volunteer, becoming the officer of volunteers, participating in the wars of 1912–1918 (First, Second Balkan War, and First World War).[1]
Nikšić murders
He was appointed the commander of the gendarmerie in Nikšić.
In February 1924, Kalabić and five other gendarmers arrested Montenegrin officers and brothers Stevan and Šćepan Mijušković along with some relatives and friends, for no apparent reason. The brothers were tortured, and Kalabić informed their family that they had frozen to death on the way to the prison. 75 days later, a passerby found the body of Šćepan, and Kalabić was forced to flee Montenegro into Kosovo.
Trial and amnesty
He came to Drenica, where he committed more murders, and then Bihać. In 1930 he was tried in Nikšić and sentenced to 18 years in prison, but was pardoned and given amnesty in 1932. He appeared in Belgrade in 1940. He was later the receiver of the Star of Karageorge. In July 1940, Simo Mijušković, the third brother of the victims, made an assassination attempt on Kalabić, but he survived.
Second World War and death
He worked in the police, then became a Serbian State Guard officer under Milan Nedić (the Prime Minister of the quisling government), and a prefect of the county of Požarevac. He fought the Partisans at Valjevo in winter 1941/1942 and Požarevac in Spring 1942.
At the same time working for Nedić, he passed on information and military supplies to the Chetniks, where his son Nikola was a commander. On October 3, 1942, after a period of surveillance, the Gestapo arrested him and a number of Chetnik commanders and men, executing them all.
His son, Nikola Kalabić, was the commander of the Mountain Guard of the Chetniks, in the Second World War.
References
- ↑ Milenko S. Filipović, (1969), Contributions a la connessance ethnologique de la Bosnie du sud-est, p. 83