Kozara Offensive

The Kozara Offensive (Serbo-Croatian: Kozaračka ofenziva/ofanziva), also known as Operation Ksaver (German: Kampfgruppe West-Bosnien) was a large-scale German-led counter-insurgency operation against the Yugoslav Partisans in the Bosnian mountain region of Kozara in the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. It was launched on 10 June 1942, with the goal to encircle and destroy the Partisans who were operating in the Kozara mountain region near Banja Luka, which threatened German access to the Belgrade-Zagreb railway.

Kozara Offensive
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia

Map of Axis movements during the operation
Date10 June – 17 July 1942
Location
Kozara, near Prijedor, Independent State of Croatia (modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Result

Axis victory

  • Partisan retreat with heavy casualties
  • Serb civilians massacred during or after the battle
Belligerents
Axis and collaborationist forces:
 Germany
 Independent State of Croatia
 Chetniks		 Allies:
 Yugoslav Partisans
Commanders and leaders
Friedrich Stahl
Kurt Waldheim
Vjekoslav Luburić
Jure Francetić
Rade Radić		 Obrad Stišović
Units involved

Wehrmacht

Independent State of Croatia

Chetniks

  • Radić Division

Yugoslav Partisans

  • 1st Krajina Detachment
  • 2nd Krajina Detachment
  • 1st Shock Battalion
Strength
15,000 German troops including 22,000 NDH and 2,000 Chetnik troops around 3,500 Partisan troops
Casualties and losses
7,000 casualties 2,000 casualties
More than 25,000 to 60,000 Serb civilians massacred in Kozara or sent to concentration camps
Location within NDH

The offensive was a coup de main operation, which utilized direct action by elements of the Wehrmacht, Home Guard and Ustaše. Poorly equipped and outnumbered, the Partisans were nearly annihilated during the fight, with only a few hundred partisans narrowly escaping as the German-NDH forces recaptured the area, including the city of Prijedor. The Germans and their allies encircled the main group and achieved their objectives after nearly 40 days of bloody combat, with heavy casualties on both sides.

The Kozara Offensive became a part of national mythology in post-war Yugoslavia, which honored the bravery and martyrdom of the Partisans. It also earned a reputation as German and NDH forces massacred Serb civilians as the battle progressed. Most of the civilians were killed during or after the battle, others were sent to concentration camps such as Jasenovac, Stara Gradiška, Sajmište, or forced labor mines in German occupied Norway where many perished.

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