Karl Novak
Karl Novak | |
---|---|
![]() Karl Novak in the 1930s | |
Other name(s) | Ludwig[1] |
Born | October 19, 1905 Pula,Austrian Littoral,Austria-Hungary(nowCroatia) |
Died | 1975 Athens,Greece |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service | ![]() |
Years of service | 1930s–1945 |
Rank |
|
Unit | Blue Guard |
Battles/wars |
Karl Novak(October 19, 1905 – 1975) was a Yugoslav Slovene military officer best known as commander of theSlovene Chetniksin the Italian-annexedProvince of Ljubljana(part of modern-daySlovenia) duringWorld War II.
Early life
[edit]Novak was born inPulain 1905.[2]After he graduated from high school in Maribor, he attended the military academy.[3]
Before World War II, Novak was a major in theYugoslav Royal Army.[4]
World War II
[edit]After theAxis invasion of Yugoslaviain April, 1941 Novak went to headquarters ofDraža MihailovićatRavna Goratogether withJaka Avšič.[5]Novak was instructed by Mihailović to infiltrate the headquarters of the communist forces in Slovenia, but this attempt failed because the Slovenian communists were warned by the communist headquarters from Užice.[6]
In February 1943, Novak,Draža Mihailović's chief representative in the province, having tried for many months to get the Slovene Alliance to place some of their forces under his command, formed his own militia, known as theBlue Guard(also known as the "Slovene Chetniks" ).[7]All major resistance factions in Slovenia had their representatives in Novak's headquarters, including Slovenian Legion, National Legion and Sokol Legion.[8]Novak was the only Chetnik commander who exercised complete political and military control over units under his nominal command.[9]However, this unit never grew larger than 400 troops, and because Novak had no political base in Slovenia, it was never a significant military or political force. After the war, Novak claimed that the Royal Yugoslav Army in Slovenia had armed encounters with Italian troops and gathered intelligence on the Italians for Mihailović, but according to the historianJozo Tomasevichthe first claim is groundless as the Italians allocated an operational zone to Novak's principal unit and indirectly provided it with supplies, and its size and restrictions on its movement precluded the gathering of much useful intelligence.[10]
NearNovo Mesto,in August 1943 Novak established the Ljubljana Chetnik Detachment.[11]Major Novak was inLjubljanaduring theBattle of Grčariceand commanded his units through radio connection. After the defeat of his units in this battle, Major Novak went toRometo avoid German attempts to arrest him in Ljubljana.[12]On December 25, 1943, Mihailović promoted Novak to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In January 1944 Novak andDobrosav Jevđević,head of Mihailović's intelligence service in Italy,[13]established a Chetnik military unit in the Slovenian Littoral and established its first detachment in theGorizia Hills.[14]Novak was some kind of envoy for Mihailović with the Allies in Italy and had the intention of using this new Chetnik unit as the nucleus for new Chetnik action in Slovenia, and so he requested that Mihailovic's headquarters obtain financial support from the Yugoslav embassy inSwitzerland.[15]
Novak died inAthensin 1975.[16]
References
[edit]- ^(Крањц 2006,p. 183): "LUDVIG - major Karl Novak, četniški poveljnik Slovenije (Ludwig, drugo ime v rojstnem listu)."
- ^(Крањц 2006,p. 21)
- ^(Крањц 2006,p. 21)
- ^Vojno-istoriski glasnik.1983. p. 191.
Karel Novak, major of the prewar Yugoslav Army,
- ^(Latas & Dželebdžić 1979,p. 68)
- ^(Marković 1988,p. 57)
- ^(Minić 1993,p. 82): "У Словенији радио је на организовању четника Карло Новак, кога је у Словенију са овлашћењИма упутио Дража Михаиловић."
- ^Vojno-istoriski glasnik.1962. p. 4.
- ^(Karchmar 1973,p. 529): "Only Novak in Slovenia had full military and political control over his nominal command,..."
- ^Tomasevich 2001,pp. 109–111.
- ^(Kristen 2006,p. 266)
- ^(Mlakar 2003,p. 135): "Majorja Novaka so v Ljubljani Nemci hoteli aretirati, a se je izmaknil z odhodom v Rim, toda tudi od tam je po svojih zvezah... 1943"
- ^(Šubelj 1999,p. 24): "Jevdjevič je bil namreč vodja obveščevalne službe Draže Mihailoviča v Italiji."
- ^(Nose 2008,p. 25): "Januarja 1944 sta začela Dobrosav Jevdjevič in Karel Novak, 'ki ga je general Mihailovič za božič 1943 povišal v čin podpolkovnika'..."
- ^(Kristen 2006,p. 136): "Karel Novak, po katastrofi v Grčaricah neke vrste Mihailovića 'delegat' za stike z zahodnimi zavezniki v Italiji, je prav ta odred v januarju 1944 nameraval uporabiti za »jedro nove akcije v Sloveniji« in je zaradi tega štab Draže Mihailovića naj pri vladi doseže izplačilo določene vsote denarja preko Švice in tamkajšnjega jugoslovanskega poslaništva"
- ^(Крањц 2006,p. 21)
Sources
[edit]- Minić, Miloš (1993).Oslobodilački ili građanski rat u Jugoslaviji 1941-1945.Agencija "Mir".ISBN9788682295013.
- Karchmar, Lucien (1973).Draz̆a Mihailović and the Rise of the C̆etnik Movement, 1941-1942.Department of History, Stanford University.
- Крањц, Маријан Ф (2006).Plava garda: zaupno poročilo četniškega vojvode in generalštabnega polkovnika Karla I. Novaka, poveljnika slovenskih četnikov.Pro-Andy.ISBN978-961-91794-3-7.
- Latas, Branko; Dželebdžić, Milovan (1979).Četnički pokret Draže Mihailovića 1941-1945.Beogradski izdavačko-grafički zavod.
- Kristen, Samo (2006).Meje in misije: dileme slovensko-hrvaške razmejitve v Istri v vojaškem, političnem, diplomatskem in obveščevalnem metežu II. svetovne vojne.Društvo 2000.ISBN978-961-6533-19-5.
- Marković, Života (1988).Tito i Užička republika.Vesti.ISBN9788673190136.
- Mlakar, Boris (2003).Slovensko domobranstvo, 1943-1945: ustanovitev, organizacija, idejno ozadje.Slovenska matica.ISBN978-961-213-114-2.
- Nose, Aleš (2008).Domobranci zdravo - Bog daj: protikomunistične enote na Slovenskem 1942-1945.Modrijan.ISBN978-961-241-223-4.
- Šubelj, Ljuba Dornik (1999).Oddelek za zaščito naroda za Slovenijo.Arhiv Republike Slovenije.ISBN978-961-6137-35-5.
- Tomasevich, Jozo (2001).War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration.Stanford: Stanford University Press.ISBN978-0-8047-3615-2.
Further reading
[edit]- Крањц, Маријан Ф (2006).Plava garda: zaupno poročilo četniškega vojvode in generalštabnega polkovnika Karla I. Novaka, poveljnika slovenskih četnikov.Pro-Andy.ISBN978-961-91794-3-7.
- KOROŠEC, I., MIHAILOVIĆ, D., & NOVAK, K. I. (2007). V spomin: [Drža Mihailović in Karel Novak]. Vestnik Zveze Slovencev V Inozemstvu. 28–32.
- CIA archive document about activity of Karl Novak 1941-1945.