Battle on Kozara took place on 3 July 1942 in the southwestern part of Kozara. The whole uprising on Kozara was important for the partisan resistance movement during World War II.
Kozara is synonymous of resistance to fascism. It is the symbol of suffering of the people for liberty, doorstep and Fatherland.
During and after the dramatic battles in the summer of 1942, from a hostile ring of the German army and the Ustasha, only ten thousand managed to get through from eighty thousand people from 363 Serbian villages. After intense battles in the night on July 3, some partisan units broke through the hoop, but the main group the next night again was besieged and largely destroyed. Just a few hundred fighters with part of the population pierced the ring and managed to escape to the mountain Grmec. A large number of those who did not manage to slip through the ring fell into the hands of the Ustasha and the Germans, and then the great crimes committed against them.
There was a retaliation against those who remained in the ring. Brutal chase to people started, to everything alive that was found in Kozara. They destroyed the whole families. For some, the name was suppressed. The most terrible toll, tribute to the children, paid Potkozarje. The smallest, died in refugee camps before they started to live. The residents have taken to camps Jasenovac, Jastrebarsko, Nova Gradiska ...
In this battle, the people of Krajina and Kozara opposed to much stronger enemy, trying to preserve the freedom and right to live. This great battle has become an integral part of the postwar Yugoslav mythology, which celebrated the heroism and martyrdom of weaker and less well armed partisans and civilians.
It's been 75 years since the terrible massacre of Serbian - freedom-loving peoples who paid the price of this immeasurable time. Now at this point stands a grandiose monument that bears witness to the most moving pages of our history.
Author: Nebojsa Djumic
Publisher: Poste Srpske a.d. Banjaluka
Cooperation: National Park ‘’Kozara’’
