Sava Kovačević ( sr-cyrl, Сава Ковачевић; 25 January 1905 – 13 June 1943) was a Yugoslav

Partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

divisional commander during

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 ...

, and one of the heroes of the communist Partisan movement.

Early life

Kovačević was born in the village of Nudo near Grahovo to father Blagoje and mother Jovana (née Perović), into a family of peasants. In his early age he worked as a lumberjack and blacksmith and adopted

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, becoming a member of the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

(KPJ) in 1925. He gradually rose through the party ranks, became one of the communist leaders in Montenegro. He was often arrested for his activities.

World War II

After the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-led

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, 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 put fo ...

, Kovačević was one of the leading organizers of the uprising in Montenegro against the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

occupation. He became commander of the Nikšić Partisan Detachment,Sava Kovacevic
''

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

'' (1979) deputy commander of Main Headquarters of Montenegro and finally a member of Supreme Staff of the

Yugoslav People's Liberation Army The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

.Kovačević Blagoja Sava
''Heroji Jugoslavenske narodnooslobodilačke borbe 1941. - 1945.'', Slobodna Jugoslavija. In June 1942 he became the first commander of the 5th Montenegrin (Sandzak) Brigade of the YPLA. His unit took part in 1942 Bosanska Krajina Campaign (Bosnian Frontier Campaign) - operation against

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

garrisons that brought large sections of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

under Partisan control. In February and March 1943, during the

Battle of Neretva Case White (), also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive (), was a combined Axis strategic offensive launched against the Yugoslav Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. It was one of the most significant confrontations o ...

, (German operation Weiss) Kovačević commanded his brigade in attacks on Prozor against the Italians and

Konjic Konjic ( sr-Cyrl, Коњиц) is a List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, city located in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in no ...

against joint Italian-Ustasha-German defenders. On 6 June during the

Battle of Sutjeska Case Black (), also known as the Fifth Enemy Offensive ( sh-Latn, Peta neprijateljska ofanziva) in Yugoslav historiography and often identified with its final phase, the Battle of the Sutjeska ( sh-Latn, Bitka na Sutjesci ) was a joint attack ...

(German operation Schwarz) he became the commander of the 3rd Shock Division of the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army. His division covered the rear of other Partisan units while they successfully broke through German lines. The 3rd Shock Division, which was encumbered with wounded Partisans, was less successful in its attempt at breaking out. On 13 June, Kovačević was killed while personally leading his men during a charge against trenches held by the German 118th Jäger Division at

Krekovi Krekovi ( sr-cyrl, Крекови) is a village in the municipality of Nevesinje, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Every village in the Nevesinje municipality contains a number of stećak tombstones, while the village of Krekovi has the mo ...

near

Tjentište Tjentište ( sr-Cyrl, Тјентиште) is a village and a valley in the municipality of Foča, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies entirely within Sutjeska National Park The Sutjeska National Park ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Nacionalni pa ...

Eastern Herzegovina East Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Istočna Hercegovina, Источна Херцеговина) is the eastern part of the historical Herzegovina region in Bosnia and Herzegovina, east of the Neretva river, part of the Republika Srpska entity. Major ...

, on the

Sutjeska river The Sutjeska ( sr-cyrl, Сутјеска, ; lit. "gorge or canyon") is a 35 km-long river in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a tributary of the Drina river, which it meets south of Foča. Geography The Sutjeska River could be considere ...

. Owing to his humble background and habit of disdain for the privileges of rank, Kovačević was one of the most popular Partisan commanders. He was famous for his personal courage: one of the well known episodes happened on 20 February 1943 in Ostrožac on the

Neretva The Neretva (, sr-Cyrl, Неретва), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power plants with Dam, large dams (higher than 15 metres) provide flood ...

river when he, with his brigade

commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and ...

Dragiša Ivanović, in an unexpected encounter with a group of Italian tanks, managed to climb onto two tanks, Sava on the second and Dragiša on the third of three tanks, to kill their crews and to capture one tank each. According to

Milovan Đilas Milovan Djilas (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Милован Ђилас, Milovan Đilas, ; 12 June 1911 – 20 April 1995) was a Yugoslav communist politician, theorist and author. He was a key figure in the Partisan movement during World War II, as well ...

, the Montenegrin communist leadership had a hard time with Kovačević because he did not recognize

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

as a separate nation from the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

Death and Legacy

Sava Kovačević died on June 13, 1943, during the

, while leading a charge against German positions held by the 118th Jäger Division at Krekovi near Tjentište. Despite being a division commander, he took a front-line role, rallying his men with a machine gun in hand. His bravery turned him into a symbol of Partisan heroism. His heroic death made him into one of the Partisan icons. He was posthumously proclaimed

People's Hero of Yugoslavia The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; , ), was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav gallantry medal, the ...

. In honour of Kovačević, numerous streets were named after him, as well as urban neighbourhoods in

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...

and Palilula. Also, Savino Selo (literally: Sava's Village) in

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

is named after him. Naval repair facility which operated in

Tivat Tivat (Serbo-Croatian: Tivat/Тиват, ) is a town in Coastal region of Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor. , its population was 9,367. Tivat is the centre of Tivat Municipality, which is the smallest municipality by area in Montenegro. ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

was named "MTRZ Sava Kovačević" (popularly called Arsenal), until its conversion into the yacht marina "Porto Montenegro".

In popular culture

In the 1973 film '' Sutjeska'' Kovačević was played by Serbian actor

Ljuba Tadić Ljubomir "Ljuba" Tadić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир Љуба Тадић; 31 May 1929 – 28 October 2005) was a Yugoslav actor who enjoyed a reputation as one of the greatest names in the history of former Yugoslav cinema. Biography He made his scr ...

. Several songs have been written in memorization of Kovačević, singing about his heroism and death on Sutjeska. The most popular include "" (What is Sutjeska up to) "" (Peregrine Falcon) and "Kraj Sutjeske hladne vode" (By Sutjeska, the cold water).

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacevic, Sava 1905 births 1943 deaths Military personnel from Nikšić Yugoslav Partisans members 20th century in Montenegro Yugoslav military personnel killed in World War II Montenegrin soldiers Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Montenegrin communists Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov