Božidar Ćosović (1916–1943) was Yugoslav gendarmerie officer, carpenter and driver from Brezova, known as a military officer during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Ćosović held the rank of self-proclaimed

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

Pećanac Chetniks During World War II, the Pećanac Chetniks, also known as the Black Chetniks, were a Nazi collaborationist Chetnik irregular military force which operated in the German-occupied territory of Serbia under the leadership of '' vojvoda'' Kosta P ...

and commanded the Javor Detachment. Karchmar described Ćosović as free-booting semi-bandit. Vladimir Dedijer referred to him as village bully. Ćosović was given a title of voivode by

Kosta Pećanac Konstantin "Kosta" Milovanović Pećanac ( sr-cyrl, Константин "Коста" Миловановић Пећанац; 1879–1944) was a Serbian and Yugoslav Chetnik commander ('' vojvoda'') during the Balkan Wars, World War I and World ...

who named a group of irregulars as Javor Chetnik Detachment. Many sources say that he was self-proclaimed voivode. On 11 July 1941, Ćosović robbed and killed a group of 5 Muslims in Crvena Gora near

Ivanjica Ivanjica ( sr-Cyrl, Ивањица, ) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of southwestern Serbia. As of 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 27,767 inhabitants. With an area of 1090 km2, it is the eighth ...

. In August 1941, Ćosović and Đura Smederevac for a short time joined their detachments with forces of voivode Đekić to establish Zlatibor Detachment of 160 men. On 28 August, they attacked

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

controlled stronghold in Štitkovo, killed two members of Croatian Home Guard and captured and destroyed their stronghold. Subsequently, they split their forces and retreated. Ćosović and his Javor Detachment retreated to Moravički district and captured

on 31 August after it was first deserted by Germans. In mid-October, Ćosović captured

Arilje Arilje ( sr-cyr, Ариље, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. The population of the town is 6,639, while the municipality has 17,063 inhabitants (2022 census). Geography The municipality of Aril ...

and

. On 5 September, Chetniks under Ćosović killed 16 Muslims, including minors. Few of the victims were tortured before execution. Ćosović, a self-proclaimed Chetnik voivode and ex gendarmerie officer, tried to secure retreat of Germans and their arms from Užice. Ćosović again attacked Ivanjica during the night between 1 and 2 November 1941. Ćosović's Chetniks and legalised Chetniks of Miloje Mojsilović executed 14 captured Partisans of Kopanik regiment on November 19 near village Lisa near Ivanjica. Five captured Partisans escaped before execution. At the end of 1941, Ćosović also legalized the ''Javor Chetnik Detachment'' under his command which was renamed to ''Javor Independent Chetnik Detachment'' with code C-37. Since he disobeyed, his detachment was disbanded, but he kept his arms and became illegal and had numerous military conflicts with Italian and German forces and

Sandžak Muslim militia The Sandžak Muslim militia was established in Sandžak and eastern Herzegovina in Axis occupied Yugoslavia between April or June and August 1941 during World War II. It was under control of the Independent State of Croatia until September 1941, ...

. During the night between 14 and 15 October 1942, Ćosović and his Javor detachment of legalized Chetniks attacked German post and

antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

mine in Lisa near Ivanjica. Zvonko Vučković had a very negative opinion about Ćosović and described how he disobeyed orders and conducted many acts of violence and robbery. So, in 1943,

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 ...

ordered Uroš Katanić, leader of Moravica Brigade, to eliminate Ćosović. Katanić in early June tracked down Ćosović and captured him in Brekovo near

. Ćosović was executed in the night of 4-5 June 1943, alongside his girlfriend and few associates. His unit was disbanded and 127 Chetniks were transferred to Moravica brigade.

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* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosovic, Bozidar 1916 births 1943 deaths Executed Serbian collaborators with Fascist Italy Executed Serbian collaborators with Nazi Germany Pećanac Chetniks Executed mass murderers Genocide of Muslims and Croats in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia perpetrators