The small town of Odžak is nestled between the Bosna and Sava rivers, in the north of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. To the north and east, a handful of villages spread over the plains, while to the south and west a few shallow inclines lead into the foothills of Vučjak Mountain.
Today the town is a quiet place, only worthy of note due to a large Bosnian flag — allegedly one of the biggest ever — that the town’s inhabitants made a few years ago. However, in the spring of 1945, the last battle of World War II in Europe took place in and around the town.
Fought between Yugoslav Partisans and Independent Croatian forces, the Battle of Odžak ended 16 days after the Allies had celebrated victory in Europe. Yugoslav authorities kept the battle secret until 1971.
In April 1941 the Kingdom of Yugoslavia came under attack from all sides by German, Italian and Hungarian forces, who succeeded in defeating the Royal Army in fewer than two weeks. The invaders annexed large swathes of the country. Italy, the German Reich, Hungary and Italian-occupied Albania all gaining considerable territory.
The majority of what remained became part of the Independent State of Croatia, a new entity led by the collaborationist regime of Ante Pavelić, an old friend of Benito Mussolini. Although it was nominally sovereign, the Independent State of Croatia was a protectorate of Italy — and after 1943, Germany — and for all intents and purposes was a puppet state. Paveli‘s party, the Ustaša Revolutionary Movement, was extremely nationalist, strongly Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-Communist and anti-Serb.
The Independent State of Croatia raised an army in the form of the Croatian Home Guard, which inherited much of its equipment and personnel from the defeated Royal Army. At its peak at the end of 1943, the Home Guard commanded 130,000 men, although it was beset with endemic desertion from 1942.
A more reliable force was found in the Ustaše Militia, the armed wing of Pavelić’s party. The militiamen gained a reputation as tough combat soldiers, but lacked discipline and were responsible for terrible atrocities, including the operation of some 20 concentration camps. Thousands more Croatian volunteers joined the Wehrmacht and S.S., forming units such as the Croatian 369th Reinforced Regiment, which fought at Stalingrad.
