Mihajlovic, << mee HY loh vihch, >> Draza (1893?-1946), was a Yugoslav resistance leader during World War II. When the Germans invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, Mihajlovic refused to surrender. He retreated to the mountains with a fighting patriot group called the Chetniks. The Yugoslav government-in-exile, headed by King Peter II, appointed Mihajlovic its minister of war and the chief of staff of the Yugoslav Army in January 1942.
But the Chetniks were not the only resistance fighters in Yugoslavia. The Communist Partisans, led by Josip Broz Tito, formed a second group. The Soviet Union insisted that the Allies aid Tito more than Mihajlovic. Tito accused Mihajlovic of collaborating with the Germans, and the Chetniks and Communist Partisans fought each other. Mihajlovic’s troops dwindled to almost nothing, and Tito’s men captured him in March 1946. He was charged with treason. He denied collaborating with the Germans, but he was found guilty as charged and shot. Mihajlovic was born near Belgrade.
