The Centre for Civic Education (CCE) and the Antifascists of Cetinje have published a series on Pavle Đurišić as part of the Just as It Was campaign. The campaign aims to restore verifiable historical facts to the public sphere at a time when the past is increasingly being used for political purposes through selective interpretations and attempts to rehabilitate collaborators with occupying forces and perpetrators of war crimes.
The series was published to mark the anniversary of the unveiling of the monument to Pavle Đurišić in Gornje Zaostro, near Berane, on 8 August 2025, despite the fact that the Law on Memorials prohibits the erection of monuments to collaborators with occupying forces. One year later, the monument remains a symbol not only of the inadequate implementation of the law, but also of the inability of institutions to confront increasingly overt historical revisionism. Its relocation from one site to another cannot alter what historical documents reveal about Đurišić’s role.
Over the past several days, through seven social media posts, we presented Đurišić’s political and military trajectory without subsequent mythologisation or embellishment, relying on archival records, historical documents, orders, reports and relevant historiography.
The first post, “From Insurgent to Opponent of the Uprising“, traced his path from participation in the Thirteenth of July Uprising to abandoning the struggle against the occupying forces and joining the Chetnik movement. This was followed by “Draža Mihailović’s Most Trusted Man“, which presented the instructions issued by the Chetnik leadership, Đurišić’s rise within its hierarchy, and the political programme of the movement to which he belonged.
The third instalment, “Why Did Pavle Đurišić Form an Alliance with the Italian Occupiers?“, documents the formal agreements concluded with the Italian authorities, his pledge of loyalty to the occupying forces, and their joint operations against the Partisans. The post “Crimes in Sandžak – What Do the Documents Reveal?“ included excerpts from Đurišić’s reports to Draža Mihailović, in which he recorded the killing of thousands of civilians, including women and children, as well as the burning of dozens of villages.
The series also addressed the Chetnik prison in Kolašin, through which around 2,000 detainees passed and where hundreds of people were executed, as well as the period of Đurišić’s collaboration with Nazi Germany. In the post “From German Prisoner to Being Decorated by Hitler”, we recalled his return from internment, his cooperation with the German occupation authorities, the handover of Jews to the Germans, joint military operations, and the Iron Cross awarded to him by Adolf Hitler.
The final post, “The End of Pavle Đurišić – Betrayals, Defeats and Disappearance“, follows his split with Draža Mihailović, his alliance with Sekula Drljević, his defeat at the Battle of Lijevče Field, and his disappearance in the spring of 1945.
The series is based on the book “Pavle Đurišić – A Controversial Chetnik Voivode” by Radoje Pajović, who worked at the Historical Institute of Montenegro and on the Collection of Documents and Data on the National Liberation War of the Yugoslav Peoples, published by the Military History Institute in Belgrade.
This series was not created with the intention of replacing historical scholarship or closing the space for critical debate. On the contrary, re-examining the past is essential. However, serious historical debate ends where documented facts are deliberately concealed in order to transform a collaborator with the occupying forces and a war criminal into a hero. Historical pluralism does not mean that fact and falsification are equally valid interpretations.
The Just as It Was campaign was launched by the Antifascists of Cetinje and the CCE in July 2026, on the occasion of 13 July – Montenegro’s Statehood Day and Uprising Day – with a series dedicated to the Thirteenth of July Uprising, available on our social media platforms.
The Antifascists of Cetinje and the CCE believe that a society which begins to negotiate with documented facts opens the door to the relativisation of crimes, the portrayal of collaboration with occupying forces as patriotism, and the transformation of perpetrators into role models. This is why a culture of remembrance is so important. It is not merely a matter of how we relate to the past; it defines the values that society embraces today and passes on to future generations. A democratic society is not built on myths and falsifications, but on facts, accountability, and the willingness to confront even the most difficult chapters of its own history.
Pavle Đurišić left behind more than enough documentary evidence for his role to require neither invention nor speculation. The documents simply need to be read. Just as It Was.
Centre for Civic Education (CCE)
Antifascists of Cetinje