"In the area of the Vojnic and Topusko districts the peace was disturbed by the Partizans. The Partizans dominate the entire area of the Vojnic district except for Vukmanic, and they also dominate the entire area of the Topusko district except Topusko itself.
"Toward the end of July last year, peace and order were violated for the first time in Vojnic district when a hand grenade was thrown into a room in the post office building in Tusilovac. On the same day three or four telephone poles were cut down near Brezova Glava. The perpetrators could not be found, so two days after that a punitive expedition, formed by larger unit of Ustase from Glina, went to the scene of the crime. According to the information available to the office of this greater region [velika zupa], the Ustase from Glina applied measures that were a little too drastic in response. About 400 women and men of Vojnic district were killed, and their property confiscated and destroyed. A battalion from Karlovac joined the Ustase unit from Glina as reinforcement. However, this battalion of the preparatory brigade from Karlovac retired after some 14 days. It seems that the ones from Glina didn't like the company of those from Karlovac, because those from the Karlovac battalion were of the opinion that it was the outlaws who should be captured, and not the peaceful population and women.
"Because of reprisals like this, much of the Orthodox population fled to the forests, though they were still at that time mostly unarmed, and they would return to their homes only when there was no army in their villages.
"At that time the first attacks on smaller police or domobran patrols occurred, and attacks were mostly committed with hunting rifles and pistols, so the patrols were disarmed, and in that way the outlaws slowly armed themselves with army weapons, even with automatic rifles. The first larger disarmament occurred in October at the garrison in Tusilovac. That attack was led by Galjer with his wife Nada, and he had about 50 armed outlaws with him. The garrison in Tusilovac of 18 men with a machine gun was disarmed. Thus the garrisons in Vojnic district fell one-by-one, and the outlaws were supplied with weapons. In January 1942. there was a disarmament in Vojnic itself, which happened to 470 men, so on that occasion the Partizans got up to 470 rifles, about 40 automatic rifles, 8 machine guns and 4 mortar canons. This is how it all started in Vojnic district.
"During the summer, in the neighbouring district of Vrginmost there was another awkward ramble by those same Glina Ustase. A teacher from Vojisnica, Nikica Generalovic, who finished his studies at the teacher's college in Karlovac, who was married to a Catholic woman, whom he didn't ask even on their wedding day to convert to the Orthodox religion, who never engaged in politics and was generally known as a very good man, gathered in his and surrounding villages about 2000 Serbs and led them under a Croatian flag to Vrginmost with the intention to convert them to Catholicism.
"When they arrived in Vrginmost, those people were loaded onto trucks and taken to Glina. In Glina they were brought into the church by groups seemingly for conversion, but all of them were slaughtered inside the church. Obviously, because of that, the whole population of Vrginmost district fled to the forest on sight of any army, especially Ustase.
"In the neighbouring district of Slunj, on St. George's Day, Serbs killed one Croatian family. Of the family killed were their father, their mother, their grandmother, a son of 16 years and a daughter who was 4 years old, while only by chance was their 10 year old daughter and their 2 year old son saved. That was in Hrvatski Blagaj. As a reaction to that a punitive expedition was sent to Hrvatski Blagaj, which captured about 500 Serbs and shot them all. One of them saved himself from a pit in which they threw him with the others, thinking he was already dead. In the other two districts emotions started to boil over among the Serbs in the same way, and it didn't take long for someone to exploit that boiling and start an uprising.
"It seems that, after Galjer and his wife Nada came to Vojnic, Vrginmost and Slunj districts this anger became more distinct. Up until then no Communist spirit was noted among the Serbs, that is among those outlaws, but after the arrival of Galjer and his group, it can be perceived that the outlaws do not act like Serbs nationalists, but like Partizan-Communists. There is even evidence that they started purging their ranks of Serb nationalists or Chetniks in a most radical manner.
"Those were the beginnings, and our authorities could not predict the final form or the significance of what was happening then. For every attack by the outlaws, reprisals against their population were organized, so it can be said today that except in a few places all of Kordun is in the hands of the Partizans.
"In Jastrebarsko district the unrest also began last summer, sometime in August. The uprising was started exclusively by foreigners - that is, people who weren't born in Jastrebarsko district. Peasants in the area of Krasic municipality noticed foreign elements moving toward one village nearby. The police station in Krasic, reinforced by a preparatory brigade from Krasic sent a combined patrol to conduct reconnaissance. That patrol was ambushed and an Ustase named Hrzic was killed, and one policeman seriously wounded. That was the first attack on our armed forces. Immediately operations with reinforced troops began in that area and achieved unexpected success. Over 30 Communists were captured, all of them foreigners who had been hidden in the homes of local peasants. After that cleansing operation there was absolute peace and order in Zumberak, that is in the area of the Jastrebarsko district until sometime in the middle of July of this year. All during the summer the movement of individuals through Zumberak was noticed once again, and one police patrol even had a skirmish with two of them, after the two pulled out their revolvers when the policemen asked them for identification papers. The lay of the land in Zumberak, with its forests and hills is very suitable for hiding of large groups of outlaws and Partizans, and besides that its position along Italian border, which is not protected at all, serves especially well for outlaw Chetnik actions, and even large groups from Slovenia can move without interruption. It seems that their main reason for coming here is due to the position of Zumberak, and this summer large groups and now smaller groups of Slovenian Partizans began arriving in the area, remaining here for several months (3 months lately). Partizans from Kordun and Banija wanted in every way to establish contact with the Partizans of Zumberak, that is with Slovenia itself, so they sent one larger group of Kordun Partizans to Zumberak. Thereafter peace and order in Jastrebarsko district was violated exclusively by foreign groups, who flowed into the hills of Zumberak.
"One part of PISAROVINA DISTRICT is positioned on the right side of Kupa and borders with Glina, Vrginmost and Vojnic districts. That part of the district, considering the circumstances, was under the influence of events in the bordering districts. Besides in that part of the district the majority of the population is Orthodox, who were battered harshly by operations against the outlaws around Christmas last winter. Some villages were razed, so those people were left without their houses and even without the families who had stayed behind at home.
"In this part of the district last year conversions to Catholicism were stopped by the Orthodox themselves. About 17,000 people applied voluntarily for conversion. However, at that time in Pasinja municipality there was a man who worked as commissar, who tried in every way to obstruct that conversion and finally ended it completely. This put an end to the peace that came with conversion.
"The part of the district on the left side of Kupa is mostly inhabited by Catholics, so it could be saved from attacks inflicted by roaming Partizan squads, if Kupa was closed in such way that Partizans couldn't cross from the right to the left bank of Kupa.
"From the above, it can already be concluded even without a special reply to this request, that safety for individuals and property does not exist in the greater region. What happened in the Autumn of 1941 was just the beginning, and it has today become a sad fact.
"Only one part of Vukmanic municipality in the Vojnic district remains in our hands, defended by about 100 men. If we compare our position in Vukmanic with the position of Brezova Glava, which was defended by 500 men - Ustase, domobrans and policemen with very powerful weapons, even cannons and well fortified positions, then it can be concluded what kind of safety there is in Vukmanic. Vukmanic can fall at any moment now, and very soon it will no longer be possible to send any relief.
"In the Vrginmost district we are holding Topusko municipality, and the garrison in Topusko numbers 400 men. Topusko is surrounded by Partizans and communication with neighboring places is very insecure, as those places are monitored by Partizan patrols. Until few days ago the connection between the seat of this greater region and Topusko was kept through Petrinja and Glina. However in the last few days that connection was cut off or put in a condition of complete insecurity, which was proven by an attack on Glina itself. The connection between Topusko and Kladusa is also cut off, as Partizans are in control even there. It is only a matter of time and the survival of Topusko looks to be very short indeed, unless our garrisons are reinforced and a strong action of cleansing begins.
"The Jastrebarsko district is at the moment in the best position, because Partizans from the area of the Jastrebarsko district retreated to area of the Pisarovina district and partially to the Vojnic district due to operations by the Italian Lombardia Division and our armed forces.
"The area of the Karlovac district is full of primarily Partizan squads which move across that area, during which they cause damage by burning state buildings, demolishing railroad tracks, et cetera. Lately, the municipalities of Skakavac and Barilovic are in great danger, as Partizans seem to intend to liquidate the garrisons in those municipalities. Several villages near Barilovic and Skakavac are completely held by Partizans.
"The same situation as in the Karlovac district exists in the part of Pisarovina district which lies on the left bank of Kupa, that is Partizan squads in that area are often passing through. The rest of the district on right bank of Kupa is completely insecure.
"As it can be seen from everything above, the safety of people and property in this region is very poor and in some areas there is none."
The above is delivered for your information. --
ZA DOM SPREMNI!
Under the authority of the Minister of the Interior,
For the Ministry within the Greater Region,
Josip Troyer