Issue: Description

BIOGRAPHY OF THE COMMANDER OF THE SERBIAN BORDER GUARD COLONEL LJUDEVIT J. POGAČAR (1893-1977)

Authors:
Miloš Žikić Nebojša Stambolija

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The paper presents the biography of Ljudevit J. Pogačar - an officer of the Yugoslav Army and Border Troops, who is best known for his role as commander of the Serbian Border Guard. Having distinguished himself as a young officer in the battles in Carinthia after the end of World War I, he had a notable military career in the interwar period. After the occupation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, he did not go into captivity, but remained in occupied Serbia. He actively participated in the suppression of insurgent activities in late 1941 and early 1942, and then took on a role in the newly created collaborationist formation, the Serbian State Guard, in its border guard department. After the formation of the Serbian Border Guard, he became its commander and remained so until the end of the occupation. By his position, he was the highest-ranking Slovene in the collaborationist apparatus of occupied Serbia during World War II. As commander of the Serbian Border Guard, he sincerely tried to improve the position of his subordinate border guards, both in terms of armament and equipment. However, cooperation with the occupiers came at a price. His file in the State Commission for the Investigation of the Crimes of the Occupiers and Their Abettors states that he “did not limit himself to military service to the occupiers, thereby committing treason against the people and the state, but in addition, he participated in organizing, ordering, and even directly committing numerous war crimes against citizens.” The fate of the war led him to emigrate to Australia, where he died in 1977. Having ended his life far from Yugoslavia, he is just one of many royal officers who were scattered around the world after World War II. The article was written using materials from domestic and foreign archives, as well as all relevant émigré and domestic historiographic literature and periodicals.