OPERATION OF THE SPECIAL POLICE DEPARTMENT ON THE TERRITORY OF THE LESKOVAC DISTRICT1941-1944.

Abstract

Members of the Department of Special Police of the Administration of the City of Belgrade were the best experts on the methodology of work, organizational structure, forms of action and personnel of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) in the interwar period. During the occupation, Special police agents put their knowledge in the service of the occupier and became his most reliable collaborators in the war against the People’s Liberation Movement. This hypothesis was also confirmed through the analysis of the activities of the anticommunist department on the territory of the Leskovac district. The officers of this department investigated, arrested, interrogated and passed “verdicts” in this part of the territory under the command of the Military Commander for Serbia. They achieved the greatest results in larger populated places. This was completely expected considering the previous experience of working in urban conditions, but also the fact that most of them were left “untied hands” in the cities. As the most important, we would point out the discovery of the CPY and organization of the communist youth in Leskovac. These arrests led to disruptions and created the need to rebuild and connect the entire organization. During operations directed against partisan units, Special Police officials did not take part in direct actions. Their task was to investigate, establish guilt and propose punishments for the arrested persons. The misunderstandings and conflicts that the teams from Belgrade had with the local occupation and collaborationist authorities outline the general relations within the occupation regime. The insistence of the supervisors of the police agents Miloš Pajević that the discovered Jews be arrested despite the fact that they were not part of the communist resistance movement is a testimony to the unscrupulousness and commitment of the officials of this part of the repressive apparatus.The analysis of the reports that the officials sent to Belgrade indicated that the Special Police also had an intelligence role in the field. By crossing the report with relevant historiographical research, we found that with the arrival of Special police agents in the Leskovac district, the occupation regime received another information channel that managed to gather, process and forward relevant information in a timely manner. The writers of the report not only focused on the intelligence role, but also suggested solutions. Such advice was to lead to the destruction of the communist resistance movement.