Kontraobaveštajna služba JNA na području Hrvatske 1944-1968.

Bojan B. Dimitrijević, KONTRAOBAVEŠTAJNA SLUŽBA JNA NA PODRUČJU HRVATSKE 1944-1968.

doi: 10.29362/2237.dim.141-160

Posebnu i karakterističnu celinu unutar Jugoslovenske narodne armije tokom njenog postojanja činila je služba bezbednosti, ranije: Kontraobaveštajna služba, poznatija po skraćenici KOS. Nastanak ove službe povezuje se sa formiranjem bezbednosne službe partizanskog pokreta – Odeljenja za zaštitu naroda, poznate po skraćenici OZN-a. Ova služba formirana je 13. maja 1944. godine. U ranijoj Jugoslovenskoj vojsci (do 1941) takve samostalne celine nije bilo, već je ona predstavljala komponentu obaveštajne službe kao dela Glavnog đeneralštaba. Posle pobede Komunističke partije Jugoslavije u građanskom ratu pod okupacijom i stvaranjem mirnodopske Jugoslovenske armije, služba bezbednosti je postala samostalna struktura, sa naglašenom ideološkom ulogom.

Bojan B. Dimitrijević, YUGOSLAV ARMY COUNERINTELLIGENCE SERVICE IN CROATIA 1944-1968

As it was the case with other Communist governed states, the Yugoslavia had a widely developed state and military security apparatus. The article describes the initial steps of the Department for the Protection of People (OZNA) since May 1944, its role in the purge of so-called “People’s Enemies” in the last days of the War. After the constitutional changes in spring 1946 the OZNA split in the two services: the Department for the State Security (UDBA) and Counterintelligence Service within the Yugoslav Army (KOS). Head of the KOS was Colonel Jefto Šašić, who was the chief of the III Department of OZNA from its foundation in 1944. According to the initial organisation, KOS had its departments at the level of Ministry of People’s Defence and HQ of armies, Air Force, Navy and KNOJ, sections at the level of the divisions, and subsections at the brigade, regiment, military school and military enterprises. Within the lower level units were designated KOS officers or NCOs. Since beginning of the 1948, all of the KOS organisational structures received number XII (12) as the prefix. This number remained as a kind of synonym for the whole service. After the break-up with the Soviet Union and other People Democracy states in 1948, both services joined their efforts in combating all the pro-Stalin or pro-Soviet activities. After the Stalin death in March 1953 and Yugoslavian siding with the United States and NATO, the pressure from the East was eased. It led to important downsizing of personnel and a certain de-brutalisation of the methods. The decisive changes occurred in 1966, after Tito dismissed the Yugoslav vice-president Aleksandar Ranković who established and have run the Yugoslav state security services since their establishment. The main responsible for investigation on UDBA technical deeds was another service: the military security – KOS. The new head of this service, General Ivan Mišković was eager to prove the Tito’s order and confirm that Ranković and UDBA were responsible for taping. This led that KOS became even more influential in society. The article is written upon the partly revealed archival sources of the state security and in-depth research of the military security service sources in the Military Archives in Belgrade.