Belgrade teacher saves a bridge from being blown up, October 20, 1944

A bit you may find interesting to include in the coming coverage. As the Germans were withdrawing from (or perhaps better to say, fleeing) Belgrade in October 1944, a teacher who lived near the river Sava & former Serbian officer in the earlier wars (Balkan Wars & WW1) prevented a bridge from being blown up by cutting the electrical cables that were to set off explosives.

His name was Miladin Zarić, and here’s the (referenced) English Wikipedia article about him. The Serbian Wikipedia article is more detailed, better written, and has further references.

The facsimile of the original newspaper article (Politika, 30 October 1944, p. 4) that the Wikipedia articles source is below. It’s archived from ImageShack and should be independently verifiable, as multiple libraries have copies of the paper. (Fwiw, it looks legit & I don’t know why someone would go to the lengths of faking it.)

I took the time to transcribe & translate it - see the next two posts.

Of course I know about this because I saw the heavily fictionalized version of what took place in the 1978 TV show Povratak otpisanih. (And of course at the time I’m posting this I can’t find the TimeGhost Army community research category, which was there, and quite empty, when I last visited the forums. Oh well.)

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The original text in Serbian. The scan is bad and a number of words are only partly legible, so the transcription is a best guess throughout. It’s in the Latin alphabet rather than the original Cyrillic.


Politika, 30 oktobra 1944

Podvig jednog našeg sugrađanina

Učitelj Miladin Zarić spasao zemunski pešački most

Zahvaljujući njegovoj odlučnosti i hrabrosti, Nemci nisu uspeli da ovaj most sruše

(slika) Most na Savi

(slika) Miladin Zarić

Kad su poslednji živi i nezarobljeni nemački vojnici napustili Beograd, kad je Narodno-oslobodilačka vojska s Crvenom armijom stigla pobedonosno na obale dveju reka našega prestonog grada, mnogi su se pitali šta je s mostovima. Nisu tada mislili na privredne koristi koje mostovi donose, nego samo na ratnu potrebu da se neprijatelj i dalje goni.

I tada su mnogi čuli i sa nevericom primili vest da pešački most preko Save nije srušen, a da ga je svojom hrabrošću spasao jedan beogradski građanin, učitelj Miladin Zarić.

Zaista, most koji sada toliko vojnički vredi, koji će koliko danas i privredno mnogo značiti za vezu Beograda sa Sremom i daljim krajevima, taj dragoceni most sačuvao je od razaranja jedan naš hrabri sugrađanin.

Njegov podvig potvrdio je komandant sovjetske jedinice koja je operisala na tom sektoru. Sam on, međutim, ma da, u svojoj skromnosti nerado govori o ovome svome delu, ispričao nam je kako je do toga došlo.

“Pošto-poto …”

Evo kako je učitelj Miladin Zarić spasao pešački most preko Save. On nam priča:

"Bio sam oficir u prošlim ratovima. U balkanskom ratu 1912 godine uspeo sam da osvojim neoštećen most na Šemnici pred Bitoljem. Dobio sam Zlatnu medalju za hrabrost, tadašnje najveće vojničko odlikovanje, jer Karađorđeve zvezde još nije bilo.

Sada kad je Narodno-oslobodilačka vojska s Crvenom armijom počela da nadire kroz Srbiju ka Beogradu, video sam kako se Nemci spremaju da miniraju sve mostove, pa među njima i pešački most preko Save. Stanujem baš preko puta toga mosta, u Karađorđevoj 69. Spopala me je prava fiksna ideja da pošto-poto spasem taj most. Svakoga dana išao sam pet-šest puta, gledao kako se Nemci penju i kako nameštaju kablove i mine. Imam dva sina. Posvetio sam i njih u to i molio da mi pomognu da vidimo gde su mine i gde su kablovi. Razgovarao sam i s jednim susedom, jer sam želeo da i njega za to zainteresujem, ali on mi je rekao da je to opasno i odgovarao me da to ne radim.

Ispitao sam odakle dolazi elektrika koja daje struju za most.

Rusi dolaze

Najzad, 20 oktobra, čuo sam klicanje Rusa u Bosanskoj ulici. Naišao sam pred vratima moga podruma na jednoga Nemca koji je drhtao i tražio od mene odelo da se presvuče. Ja sam ga razoružao i predao dalje nekim dečacima koji su već pomagali Narodno-oslobodilačkoj vojsci.

Pretrčao sam ulicu, stigao do usta mosta i video da je most ceo. Strčao sam onda pod most da pregledam mine. Video sam utom braću Ruse gde dolaze od železničke stanice. Potrčao sam im ususret, izljubio se s njima i pozvao ih da zajedno pregledamo most. Prva dva stuba nisu bila ništa sumnjiva, ali na trećem stubu bilo je nekoliko paketa eksploziva. Glavni svod bio je, međutim, načičkan sandučićima. Sa mnom je došlo oko deset Rusa. Primetili su da se više trećeg stuba puši plavičast dim. To im je izgledalo sumnjivo, naročito zato šta je dim šištao ustranu, a nije išao uvis, te su znali da to gori fitilj. Udaljili su se od mosta, jer nisu ni imali naređenje da prelaze preko njega nego da idu za Kalemegdan.

Kazao sam tada da sam bivši srpski oficir i rekao da ću ja spasti most. Da ne bih obrukao obraz, pošao sam sam.

Užas na mostu

Video sam užas na mostu. Mnoštvo ratne spreme i mrtvih Nemaca. Polako sam se približavao svodu i prvi put pročitao da na tome mostu piše kako je to tobože most Princa Eugena. Nikada dotle nisam video to, jer bez pasoša, nisam ni moga da prelazim u Zemun. Ali iznad table gde je to pisalo video sam i bakarne žice, pa sam se rešavao da li da pretrčim i poslednjih sto metara do onog plavičastog dima. Dograbio sam jedan vojnički ašov, pa pritrčao do tog sumnjivog mesta. Ugledao sam tu jednoga Nemca, za koga nisam imao vremena da vidim da li je živ ili mrtav. Onim ašovom udario sam po snopu žica, pa kako nisam bio zadovoljan, okrenuo sam se i uzeo jedan krvav nemački tesak. Koliko sam puta udarao, ne znam. Tek, šištanje je prestalo, ali na otstojanju od dvadeset metara sa zemunske strane goreo je požar na tri mesta. Pokušao sam da ašovom ugasim, ali sam video da ni pedeset ljudi ne bi mogli da uguše onu vatru. Pretrčao sam još 300 metara do pečurke gde je stojala protivavionska artilerija, pa zatim i do ulaza u Sajmište.

Primetio sam dosta Nemaca, a naročito ih je mnogo bilo na kuli. Niko od njih nije pucao. Ne znam šta su mislili o meni: možda da sam njihov miner ili neki Nemac izbeglica. Vratio sam se onda opet na pola mosta, pa sam se provukao kroz neke asure kojim su Nemci kamuflirali most i pozivao građane da mi pomognu da gasim požar. Niko se nije odazivao. Tada sam se okrenuo Rusima i mahao šeširom. Bili su daleko oko 200 metara. Dogovarali su se neko vreme, pa se onda njih četrdeset popelo na most. Išao sam s njima sve do leve obale.

Podvig krunisan uspehom

Onoj četrdesetorici pridružio se još jedan bataljon, pa su počeli da se spuštaju u obalobran u Sajmište. Tu su već primili borbu s Nemcima. Počelo je puškaranje. U istome otsudnome trenutku uragan topovske vatre srušio se na most. Mnogi su poginuli, mnogi ranjeni, pod je mosta isprovaljivan, ali su Rusi kuljali, opravljali most i išli ka Sajmištu prevlačeći topove i napredujući dalje ka Zemunu zajedno sa Narodno-oslobodilačkom vojskom."

Naš hrabri sugrađanin dobio je od komandanta ove sovjetske jedinice pismenu pohvalu za njegovo junačko delo i predložen je za visoko vojničko odlikovanje Crvenu zvezdu prvog stepena.

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Translation into English. First draft by Google translate, copy editing & any remaining errors mine. (By the way, Google has no clue what “ašov” is. It’s a small shovel, a spade.)

That’s all! Hope it comes in useful.


Politika, October 30, 1944

(Pre-title) The Feat of One of Our Fellow Citizens

(Main title) Teacher Miladin Zarić Saved the Zemun Pedestrian Bridge

(Subtitle) Thanks to his determination and courage, the Germans did not manage to destroy this bridge

(Photo caption) The bridge on the Sava

(Photo caption) Miladin Zarić

When the last surviving and uncaptured German soldiers left Belgrade, when the People’s Liberation Army and the Red Army arrived victoriously on the banks of the two rivers of our capital city, many wondered what happened to the bridges. At that time, they did not think of the economic benefits that bridges bring, but only of the wartime need to continue pursuing the enemy.

And then many heard and received with disbelief the news that the pedestrian bridge over the Sava was not destroyed, but that a Belgrade citizen, teacher Miladin Zarić, courageously saved it.

Indeed, the bridge that is now so militarily valuable, and which will in the coming days mean a lot economically for the connection between Belgrade and Srem and regions further away, that precious bridge was saved from destruction by one brave fellow citizen.

His feat was confirmed by the commander of the Soviet unit that operated in that sector. He himself, however, although in his modesty reluctant to talk about this action, told us how it came about.

(Section) “At All Costs …”

This is how teacher Miladin Zarić saved the pedestrian bridge over the Sava. He tells us:

"I was an officer in the past wars. In the Balkan War in 1912, I managed to capture an undamaged bridge over Šemnica near Bitola. I received the Golden Medal for Courage, then the highest military decoration, as the Karađorđe Star did not exist yet.

Now, when the People’s Liberation Army and the Red Army began to advance through Serbia towards Belgrade, I saw that the Germans were preparing to blow up all the bridges, including the pedestrian bridge over the Sava. I live right across from that bridge, at Karađorđeva 69. I got a real fixation to save the bridge at all costs. Every day I went there five or six times, watching the Germans climbing and setting up cables and mines. I have two sons. I confided to them and asked them to help me see where the mines and cables are. I also talked to a neighbor, because I wanted to get him interested in it, but he told me that it was dangerous and urged me not to do it.

I investigated where the electricity that supplies power to the bridge comes from.

(Section) The Russians Are Coming

Finally, on October 20, I heard the cheering of Russians in Bosanska Street. In front of my basement door, I encountered a trembling German who asked me for a suit to change into. I disarmed him and handed him over to some boys who were already helping the People’s Liberation Army.

I ran across the street, reached the start of the bridge and saw that the bridge was intact. I then ran under the bridge to inspect the mines. Then I saw our brothers, the Russians, coming from the train station. I ran to meet them, embraced them and invited them to inspect the bridge together. There wasn’t anything suspicious about the first two posts, but on the third post there were several packages of explosives. The main arch, too, was studded with boxes. About ten Russians came with me. They noticed that bluish smoke was coming from above the third post. This seemed suspicious to them, especially since the smoke was hissing sideways and not going up, so they knew that it was a burning fuse. They moved away from the bridge, also because they didn’t have the orders to cross it, but to go to Kalemegdan.

I told them then that I was a former Serbian officer and that I would save the bridge. In order to keep my honor, I went alone.

(Section) Horror on the Bridge

I saw horror on the bridge. Lots of war materiel and dead Germans. I was slowly approaching the arch and for the first time I read the inscription on the bridge, that it was supposedly the bridge of Prince Eugene. I had never seen that before, because without a passport, I couldn’t cross into Zemun. But above the plate with this inscription, I also saw copper wires, and stopped to decide whether to run the last hundred meters to that bluish smoke. I grabbed a soldier’s spade and ran to that suspicious place. I saw a German there, I didn’t have time to check if he was alive or dead. I hit the bundle of wires with the spade, and since I wasn’t satisfied, I turned around and took a bloody German blade (*). I don’t know how many times I hit. Only, the hissing stopped, but at a distance of twenty meters from the Zemun side, fires were burning in three places. I tried to put them out with the spade, but I saw that even fifty men could not put out the flames. I ran another 300 meters to the mushroom-shaped stand with the anti-aircraft artillery, and then to the entrance to Sajmište.

I noticed a lot of Germans, especially many on the tower. None of them fired. I don’t know what they made of me: maybe that I was their miner or some German refugee. Then I went back halfway across the bridge, slipped through some matting (**) with which the Germans camouflaged the bridge, and called on people to help me put out the fire. Nobody answered. Then I turned to the Russians and waved my hat. They were about 200 meters away. They deliberated for a while, then forty of them climbed the bridge. I went with them all the way to the left bank.

(Section) A Feat Crowned with Success

The forty were joined by another battalion, so they started to go down the embankment to Sajmište. There they already met resistance from the Germans. The shooting began. At that fateful moment, a hurricane of cannon fire crashed down on the bridge. Many were killed, many were wounded, the floor of the bridge was breached, but the Russians poured through, fixed the bridge and went towards Sajmište, dragging the cannons and advancing further towards Zemun together with the People’s Liberation Army."

Our brave fellow citizen received a written commendation from the commander of this Soviet unit for his heroic deed and was nominated for the high military decoration Red Star of the First Degree.

(*) Original “tesak”. Could be a bayonet, an axe, or a cutlass, so “blade” is non-committal. Likely root is “tesati” = to cut wood, to hack, to spall. (source: tesak prevod sa srpskog na nemacki)
(**) Original “asure”. Could be “covers” or “nets”. Plural of “asura” or “hasura” = floor mat made out of reeds. (source: asura prevod sa srpskog na engleski)

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