COOPERATION OF BLAGOJE NEŠKOVIĆ WITH THE PARTY ORGANIZATIONS OF LESKOVAC AND VRANJE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the cooperation of Blagoje Nešković with the party organizations of Leskovac and Vranje during the Second World War. Blagoje Nešković was the secretary of the Provincial Committee for Serbia, and one of his tasks was to maintain ties with local party organizations. For that purpose, according to the preserved sources, he traveled to Vranje and Leskovac, where he had connections with the local party organization. Already in the middle of 1942, the CPY Provincial Committee made the decision to form a special party leadership for the Vranje district (with some parts of the Leskovac and Pirot districts), which would also manage the existing military units in this area. Blagoje Nešković personally visited Vranje, and then the Vranje-Pirot District Committee was formed. Relations with Vranje were important because the PC maintained cooperation with party organizations in Macedonia and Bulgaria through Serbia. After the conference in Bukulja, held from August 9 to 13, 1943, a decision was made that Blagoje Nešković, as the secretary of the PC, would travel to the south, where the leading center of the NOP for the whole of Serbia was to be created. At the end of September 1943, he arrived in Leskovac, where he held several consultations with the local party leadership. During his stay in the south, two brigades were formed: the First and Second South Moravian Brigades, and the local party organization was reorganized. Then Blagoje Nešković left Serbia with the First South Moravian Brigade. His stay in the south served as a significant stimulus in the development and actions of the party organizations of Vranje and Leskovac in the midst of the Second World War.