When she was only 15 years old, Lepa Radić joined the Yugoslavian Partisans. She struggled against Nazi oppression for two years until they caught her and killed her. But her efforts gave her people hope, and her bravery is still remembered today.
When World War II started, the Nazis took over most of continental Europe. In almost every country that the Nazis took over, there were local resistance groups. These resistance groups did a lot of different things, such distributing anti-fascist literature, helping refugees and downed Allied pilots get to safety, and carrying out guerrilla raids that hurt the Nazi war machine.
There is no way to tell how many people fought in these underground resistance groups. Some participants of the resistance were previous soldiers, but most were regular people, and some were even kids or teens. These freedom fighters risked everything to fight fascism when the war came to their home country.
After World War I, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was formed. Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, and Slovenians all lived in a multi-ethnic country that started out as a democracy. But by 1929, it had turned into a royal dictatorship. When the Nazis took over Germany in the 1930s, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia tried to stay out of the conflict and provided information with Great Britain. But on March 25, 1941, Yugoslavia gave in to Nazi pressure and signed the Tripartite Pact, which was a defense alliance made by Germany, Japan, and Italy. This move basically put Yugoslavia on the side of the Axis Powers.
Just two days later, when the treaty was signed, Yugoslavian military officials and British intelligence planned a coup that put 17-year-old King Peter II in charge of a government that wanted to stay out of the war.
Nazis Invade And The Resistance Is Born
At that time, Hitler was planning Operation Barbarossa, which would be the biggest military operation in history: an invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler had to change his plans, though, when a nationalist government took over in Yugoslavia. He signed Fuhrer Directive 25, which said that the new Yugoslavian government was an enemy and instructed the army to invade. The Nazis invaded Yugoslavia on April 6, and the country gave up 11 days later. But the attack also set Barbarossa back four weeks. Some historians have thought that this might have played a role in the operation’s eventual failure because of this.
The Nazis took over Serbia and northern Slovenia. Then, on April 10, 1941, they made Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina into the Independent State of Croatia. The Ustaše government ran this country, which was really a Nazi puppet state that mercilessly oppressed Jews, Roma, and Serbs who lived there. The Ustaše government was in charge of the big towns, but the Nazi invasion didn’t calm down the mountainous areas. Because of this failure, two groups of people who were against the government, the Chetniks and the Partisans, were able to form.
Chetniks and Partisans
Most of the Chetniks were former Yugoslavian soldiers who were loyal to the royalist government in exile. Some Chetniks were against Nazi control, but others were more worried about the rise of communism in the country. Some Chetniks worked with the Nazis who were occupying their country, and some Chetnik operatives committed war crimes on their own.
For the Partisans, World War II was a chance to work more openly than ever before. In 1921, Yugoslavia made Communism illegal, which drove the Communist Party underground. The Yugoslavian Community Party came to power after the military coup. After the Nazis invaded, the Yugoslavian Communists changed their name to the Partisans and were led by Josip “Tito” Broz.
A Young Party Member Named Lepa Radić
Lepa Radić was born on December 19, 1925, in the village of Gašnica, which is now in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Her parents were Serbian. People say that she was a dedicated and studious student in school.
Vladeta Radić, her uncle, was a member of the underground labor movement. He taught Lepa how to think like a Communist. As a result, she was involved in the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) as a child. In early 1941, she joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
After the Nazis invaded, her father Svetor and her uncles Vladeta and Voja joined the Partisan organization in July 1941. But in November, the Ustaše started to pay attention to what they were doing. They took her whole family to the Stara Gradiška prison and kept them there. Twenty days later, secret Partisans helped Lepa and her sister Dara get away. After being rescued, Lepa and Dara joined the Partisans and worked for the 2nd Krajiški Detachment’s 7th Partisan company. Lepa was only 15 years old.
Partisan Activities
Lepa Radic worked as a nurse before taking a youth course in the village of Lamovita. Her youth and ability to easily connect with young people turned out to be a plus. She worked as an SKOJ field volunteer near Prijedor and then as a political leader near Podgrmec. This sometimes entailed going to villages to find new Partisans. But she also took part in every significant activity in the area, even combat.
She once led a group of young people on a mission to gather grain near enemy lines. In January 1943, she led a group of young people who gave Tito traditional Krajina gifts during a troop inspection.
In January 1943, the Nazis and their sometimes-allies, the Chetniks, started Case White, a big attack on the Yugoslavian Partisans. Because of this, this operation would kill and almost wipe out the Partisans. Lepa was in charge of getting the wounded out of the Battle of Neretva and to a field hospital near Grmeč. The Yugoslav Partisans’ plan included saving the wounded. Tito promised never to leave the wounded behind on the battlefield because the Axis often killed them.
Capture And Execution
In February, the 7th SS Prinz Eugen Division surrounded Lepa and 150 refugees, including women and children. Lepa wouldn’t give up. Before being caught and transported to the settlement of Bosanska Krupa, she shot all of the bullets from her rifle at the Nazis who were coming toward her.
For three days, the Nazis tormented her and had her tell them the names and locations of her Partisan friends. But she said no. Because of this, they gave her the death penalty for shooting at Nazi soldiers. She yelled to the crowd as they put the rope around her neck:
“Long live the Communist Party, and partisans! Fight, people, for your freedom! Do not surrender to the evildoers! I will be killed, but there are those who will avenge me!”
The Nazi commander offered to spare her life in exchange for the names of her Communist allies. Instead, she replied:
“I am not a traitor of my people. Those whom you are asking about will reveal themselves when they have succeeded in wiping out all you evildoers, to the last man.”
On February 8, 1943, Nazis killed Lepa Radić. She was only 17. “The bandit girl, hanging in Bosanska Krupa, has shown unprecedented defiance,” said the Nazi report on her execution.
Lepa Svetozara Radić – A National Hero
The Yugoslavian Communist Party, led by Tito, became the country’s ruling party after the war. Because of this, the party saw the Yugoslavian Partisans as one of the best guerrilla armies in the whole war. The Order of the People’s Hero medal, the second-highest military accolade in the country, was given to Lepa after her death in 1951. Today, she still inspires others who fight against oppression.
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