Tito and His Comrades

World War Two and the Partisan Struggle 87

guarded their individual zones of occupation from their enemies but also from
their allies. He planned his march toward the Bosnian Krajina, constantly
moving from the Italian to the German zone, for he was well aware that the
Wehrmacht and the Supersloda (as Roatta’s army was called, with reference
to Slovenia and Dalmatia, its original occupation areas) would be unable to
coordinate a common action.^207 In spite of this, this period was, as Vladimir
Dedijer remembers, “the most difficult of the initial months of our resistance.
Draža Mihailović tried by every means, together with the occupier and with
the support of the royal government in London, to destroy the National Lib-
eration Movement.”^208 Tito’s bitterness is eloquently expressed in a dispatch
that Dimitrov quoted in his diary on 24 May 1942:

The Chetniks have enormous quantities of automatic weapons, mine-throwers

and munitions. They forcibly mobilize the peasants, killing those who oppose

them or transporting them to concentration camps in Albania. Our Partisan bat-

talions are exhausted because of continuous clashes and, moreover, are without

munitions. We had to recall our battalions from Montenegro, in order to prevent

their complete annihilation. The people curse the London government which,

through Draža Mihailović, is aiding the invader. On all sides people and fighting

men are asking: “Why does the Soviet Union not send us aid, even if it is only

automatic weapons and some ammunition?”^209

Hebrang’s Enigma

When the Axis forces attacked Yugoslavia, Ivan Srebrnjak (a.k.a. Antonov, the
agent of GPU, the military branch of Soviet secret services) returned home
from France in order to organize an “information point” for the Red Army in
Zagreb. Tito had not forgiven that “viper” for his attempts to ruin him by tip-
ping off Moscow during the struggle for the CPY leadership, and as revenge
he urged “Grandpa” to relieve Srebrnjak of his post, asserting that the Party did
not trust him. (Kopinič suspected him of being a Gestapo collaborator.) But
this attempt did not succeed, since he had powerful patrons in Moscow. Some
months later, in February 1942, the Ustaša arrested Srebrnjak and tortured him
mercilessly until he “behaved badly,” apparently talking “like an open book.”
Ivan Krajačić (Stevo) organized his assassination on Tito’s behalf, in order to
limit the damage he was doing. Because of his revelations, ten to fifteen people
in Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy had been arrested.^210
One of these was Andrija Hebrang, called Fatty because of his resemblance
to the famous Hollywood comedian, Fatty Arbuckle. He was captured in
Srebrn jak’s house, as they had been collaborators. (Why he did not find a better
hiding place is a moot question.) For the Ustaše this was an important success,