Marija Bursać ( sr-Cyrl, Марија Бурсаћ; 2 August 192023 September 1943) was a member of the
Yugoslav Partisans during
World War II in Yugoslavia and the first woman proclaimed a
People's Hero of Yugoslavia. Bursać was born to a
Bosnian Serb farming family in the village of
Kamenica, near
Drvar
Drvar (, ) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 2013 census registered the municipality as having a population of 7,036. It is situated in western Bos ...
. After the
invasion of Yugoslavia
The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...
by the
Axis powers and their creation of the
Independent State of Croatia in April 1941, Bursać supported the Partisan resistance movement led by the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...
(KPJ). Like other women in her village, she collected food, clothing, and other supplies for the Partisan war effort. Bursać became a member of the
League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia , SKOJ mk, Сојуз на комунистичката младина на Југославија, СКМЈ sl, Zveza komunistične mladine Jugoslavije, ZKMJ
, colorcode = red
, founded = 1919
, dissolved = 1948
, succeeded by = League of S ...
in September 1941. The following August she was appointed
political commissar of a company of the 1st Krajina Agricultural Shock Brigade, which harvested crops in the
Sanica River valley, and was admitted to the KPJ at the end of that summer.
Bursać became a Partisan in February 1943, joining the newly formed 10th Krajina Brigade. With the brigade, she fought in the
Bosansko Grahovo,
Knin,
Vrlika and
Livno areas and served as a nurse. In September 1943, Bursać was wounded in the leg while throwing
hand grenade
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...
s during an attack on the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
base at
Prkosi in northwestern
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
. As she was being transported to a field hospital at
Vidovo Selo
Vidovo Selo ( sr-cyrl, Видово Село)
is a village in the Municipality of Drvar, Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Demographics
According to the 2013 census, its population was ...
, she sang Partisan songs. Bursać's wound soon developed
gangrene
Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...
, and she died at the hospital on 23 September 1943. She was proclaimed a People's Hero of Yugoslavia the following month. Schools, streets and organisations were named in her memory following the war, commemorating her service to the Partisan cause.
Early life
Bursać was born on 2 August 1920 in the village of
Kamenica, near
Drvar
Drvar (, ) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 2013 census registered the municipality as having a population of 7,036. It is situated in western Bos ...
in the region of
Bosanska Krajina,
[ Zukić 1982, p. 590] the north-western sector of
Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed as Yugoslavia in 1929). The Drvar area was inhabited primarily by
ethnic Serbs, with
Bosnian Muslims and
Croats forming less than four percent of the population. Bursać was the oldest of five children of stonemason Nikola Bursać and his wife, Joka, who mostly raised sheep and cattle on their family farm. Like other village girls, Bursać did not go to school—only the boys attended elementary school in Drvar. A shepherdess until age fourteen, she later helped her mother with housekeeping and agricultural work. Bursać became skilled at weaving, spinning, knitting and embroidery before completing a six-month tailoring course in Drvar.
[ Beoković 1967, pp. 15–18]
In 1938, an elementary school opened in Kamenica at which Velimir Stojnić was a trainee teacher. Stojnić, a member of the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...
( hbs-Latn, Komunistička partija Jugoslavije or KPJ, outlawed since 1921), organised a public library, reading and sports clubs and a cultural-artistic group.
[ He established a secret KPJ cell in Kamenica in 1939, the first ]communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
organisation in the area. His ideological convictions earned him a following among the village youth, including Marija's brother Dušan.[ The authorities soon became aware of Stojnić's activities, and he was removed from Kamenica in February 1940.
]
World War II
On 6 April 1941 Yugoslavia was invaded
An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
from all sides by the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany. The Royal Yugoslav Army ( hbs-Latn, links=no, Vojska Kraljevine Jugoslavije or VKJ) capitulated on 17 April, and the Germans, Italians and Hungarians dismembered the country.[ Roberts 1987, pp. 15–18] A fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia ( sh-Latn, links=no, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska or NDH, including almost all of modern-day Croatia, all of modern-day Bosnia-Herzegovina and parts of modern-day Serbia) was proclaimed on 10 April. The NDH was an "Italian-German quasi-protectorate", controlled by the Croatian nationalist
Croatian nationalism is nationalism that asserts the nationality of Croats and promotes the cultural unity of Croats.
Modern Croatian nationalism first arose in the 19th century after Budapest exerted increasing pressure for Magyarization of Cro ...
Ustaše movement under Ante Pavelić. One of the NDH's policies was to eliminate the state's ethnic Serb population with mass killings, expulsions and forced assimilation.[ Vucinich 1949, pp. 355–358] The first Drvar Serbs were killed on 18 June 1941. The atrocities accelerated the formation of two large resistance movements in occupied Yugoslavia. Royalists and Serbian nationalists led by VKJ Colonel Draža Mihailović
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Дража Михаиловић; 27 April 1893 – 17 July 1946) was a Yugoslavs, Yugoslav Serb general during World War II. He was the leader of the Chetniks, Chetnik Detachments ...
founded the Ravna Gora Movement, whose members were known as Chetniks
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
.[ Roberts 1987, pp. 20–22] The KPJ, led by Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
, decided in Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
on 4 July to launch a nationwide armed uprising and the members of the KPJ-led forces became known as Partisans.[ Roberts 1987, pp. 23–24]
Pro-Partisan activity
Between 20 and 26 July 1941 local KPJ leaders organised three Partisan detachments, armed with about 200 rifles and seven light machine guns, in the immediate vicinity of Drvar; one was the Kamenica Detachment. Men from Kamenica had previously established a camp in a nearby forest for weapons and supplies. Bursać was one of the village's most active women, collecting food and clothing for the insurgents and serving as a courier for the Kamenica camp.[ On 27 July the Partisans liberated Drvar, beginning the uprising in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Over the next few days, other parts of Bosanska Krajina were also liberated, although at this stage the KPJ had little control of the Serb villagers who took up arms. The liberated area around Drvar and Bosansko Grahovo, under constant attack by the Ustaše, was defended by the Partisans from their surrounding positions. Bursać and other women from Kamenica joined ''Odbor fonda'' (the Funds Committee), collecting food, clothing and other supplies for the Partisans, and she made clothes for them from wool and cloth. She joined the ]League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia , SKOJ mk, Сојуз на комунистичката младина на Југославија, СКМЈ sl, Zveza komunistične mladine Jugoslavije, ZKMJ
, colorcode = red
, founded = 1919
, dissolved = 1948
, succeeded by = League of S ...
( sh-Latn, links=no, Savez komunističke omladine Jugoslavije, or SKOJ) in September 1941.[ Beoković 1967, pp. 19–22]
On 25 September 1941 Italian troops captured Drvar and Grahovo, but the Partisans retained control of most of the area's villages. By the end of 1941, SKOJ's Kamenica branch had 23 members; the men served in Partisan units and the women, including Bursać, joined labour companies to support the war effort. A literacy course was organised for female members, which Bursać attended. Some villagers gave agricultural products such as milk, cream and eggs to the Italians, receiving salt, kerosene and rice in return. This practice was strongly condemned by the KPJ, which gathered people from several villages in the hall of the Kamenica school in January 1942 to dissuade them from trading with the enemy. After several KPJ members spoke, Bursać began her speech, but was interrupted by disparaging comments and threats from a young man in the audience. At that moment, a group of men stormed into the hall with wooden poles and pitchforks. In the ensuing chaos Bursać shouted, "You can do nothing to us, you will not hinder us!" as the other women fled through the windows.[ In early 1942 she joined the village committee of the ( sh-Latn, links=no, Antifašistički front žena or AFŽ), a major KPJ-affiliated women's organisation.][ Beoković 1967, pp. 24–25]
On 13 June 1942 Drvar was retaken by the Partisans, with Bursać's labour company clearing rubble and repairing houses in the town. The company also helped in working the land of families whose men were away fighting with the Partisans. In July, Partisan units composed of fighters from Serbia and Montenegro came to Drvar, and Bursać helped carry their wounded to field hospitals in the mountains.[ She was one of the most active members of Kamenica's SKOJ organisation, which sometimes met at her house.][ Beoković 1967, pp. 27–28] The Partisan-held territory around Drvar expanded significantly, and included the Sanica River valley in late July 1942. The valley's primarily non-Serb population had fled before the advancing Partisans, whom they feared because of Ustaše propaganda. The Partisan command engaged young people from western Bosanska Krajina to harvest wheat and other crops from the valley, transporting them to storage facilities on Mount Grmeč. The workers (mostly young women) were organised into military-style units, which were merged in mid-August into the four-battalion 1st Krajina Agricultural Shock Brigade.[ Bokan 1988, pp. 436–37] Bursać was appointed political commissar of the 3rd Company of the brigade's 2nd Battalion.[ Guarded by Partisan units, the brigade completed its work despite attacks by enemy planes.][ Bursać was admitted to the KPJ at the end of summer 1942; at the beginning of 1943, she was president of the village committee of the United Federation of Anti-Fascist Youth of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn, links=no, Ujedinjeni savez antifašističke omladine Jugoslavije, or USAOJ).
]
Yugoslav Partisan
Tito came to Drvar at the end of January 1943, during a major Axis offensive against the Partisans (code-named ''Fall Weiss'' in German). After consulting with Đuro Pucar
Đurađ "Đuro" Pucar "Stari" ( sr-cyr, Ђурађ Ђуро Пуцар, ; 13 December 1899 – 12 April 1979) was a Yugoslav and Bosnian politician.
During World War II he was a member of the Yugoslav Partisans and was later decorated with the Or ...
, the head of the KPJ regional committee for Bosanska Krajina, Tito decided to form a Partisan brigade around a battalion of experienced fighters from Drvar. Additional manpower would consist of recovered Partisans who had been wounded or ill, older men not previously in combat units and young male and female volunteers. The four-battalion 10th Krajina Brigade, intended to play a primarily-defensive role at this stage, was established on 4 February 1943; its 800 members included about 120 women.[ Bursać, one of the volunteers, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion][ Gončin 1990, pp. 19–23] and was transferred to the 3rd Battalion's 3rd Company the following month.[ Beoković 1967, pp. 32–37] Until September 1943, she fought the Ustaše, Germans, Italians, and anti-communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
Chetniks around Grahovo, Knin, Vrlika, Livno and Mount Dinara, was commended for her courage and skill in combat, and served as a nurse. In February and March 1943, during the Axis offensive, the brigade experienced constant enemy attacks, food shortages, cold, deep snow and outbreaks of typhus. Emaciated, Bursać was transferred to the military kitchen at brigade headquarters at the beginning of spring; after a month, she was returned to her company at her insistence. When she became ill some time later, Bursać was sent home to recover.[
The Germans had a fortified base, ''Stützpunkt Podglavica'',][ Schraml 1962, p. 168] near Podglavica in the village of Prkosi (between Vrtoče and Kulen Vakuf).[ Sopić 1974, p. 53] The base, with about 500 members of the 373rd (Croatian) Infantry Division
The 373rd (Croatian) Infantry Division (german: 373. (Kroatische) Infanterie-Division, hr, 373. (hrvatska) pješačka divizija) was a division of the German Army during World War II. It was formed in June 1943 using a brigade from the Home Guar ...
and an artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...
, secured the roads from Bosanski Petrovac to Bihać and Kulen Vakuf.[ In September 1943, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 10th Krajina Brigade and a battalion of the Drvar–Petrovac Partisan Detachment were directed to attack it. Bursać volunteered to throw hand grenades at the pillboxes and machine-gun nests protecting the base. Although her company commander objected because she still appeared ill, Bursać insisted on throwing the grenades. The three Partisan battalions attacked the base from three directions on 18 September at 11 pm. Bursać and her group of grenade throwers destroyed several pillboxes before they came under fire from another. They destroyed the pillbox, but she received a serious leg wound and was carried to a less exposed area.][ Gončin 1990, pp. 88–100]
The Partisans overran portions of the base, retreating before daybreak after the arrival of German reinforcements from Vrtoče and Kulen Vakuf.[ The brigade reportedly captured four ]howitzer
A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
s, two mortars, a heavy machine gun, ten light machine guns, five rifles, a mobile radio and 29 enemy soldiers,[ and ''Stützpunkt Podglavica'' reported 31 German soldiers missing after the attack.][ The Germans described the night attack as eerie, with female Partisans' shrill shouts of "Forward!" ( sh-Latn, links=no, Napred!). The battle at Prkosi was the first major offensive action by the 10th Krajina Brigade; in 1944, they participated in the liberation of Belgrade.
After the battle, Bursać and other heavily-wounded Partisans were carried on stretchers to the field hospital in the village of ]Vidovo Selo
Vidovo Selo ( sr-cyrl, Видово Село)
is a village in the Municipality of Drvar, Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Demographics
According to the 2013 census, its population was ...
, about away over rugged terrain. During the arduous journey (which took over three days), she sang Partisan songs such as:[ Beoković 1967, pp. 44–47]
Bursać had lost much blood and her wound developed gangrene
Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...
,[ which the field hospital was poorly equipped to treat.][ Beoković 1967, pp. 50–52] She died in Vidovo Selo on 23 September 1943, and was buried with military honours at Kamenica; deputy commissar Veljko Ražnatović spoke on behalf of the 10th Krajina Brigade. Bursać's final eulogy was delivered by her brother Dušan, leader of the SKOJ district committee for Drvar.[
]
Legacy
Bursać became a People's Hero of Yugoslavia on 15 October 1943, the first woman to receive the honour.[ Her proclamation was published in the October 1943 issue of the ''Bulletin of the Supreme Headquarters of the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia'':][ ''Bilten'' 1949, p. 357]
Yugoslav writer Branko Ćopić wrote a poem, ''Marija na Prkosima'' ("Marija at Prkosi"), about Bursać. Its title, which may also be interpreted as "Marija defiant", is a play on words. Bursać "entered the triptych of history, legend, and poetry in the Yugoslav lands", according to author Jelena Batinić. After the war, schools, streets, and organisations in Yugoslavia were named after her; a Belgrade neighborhood bears her name. A 2013 comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
, ''Marija na Prkosima'', was published in the Serbian daily newspaper '' Danas'' as part of its ''Odbrana utopije'' ("Defense of Utopia") comic-strip project. Graphic artist Lazar Bodroža's strip combines events from Bursać's life with verses of Ćopić's poem and left-wing visual symbolism.[ Tucakov 2014, para. 5]
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bursac, Marija
1920 births
1943 deaths
People from Drvar
Yugoslav Partisans members
Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero
Bosnia and Herzegovina women in politics
Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany
Women's Antifascist Front of Yugoslavia
Women in the Yugoslav Partisans
Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Grenadiers
Infectious disease deaths in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Deaths from gangrene