Milan Aćimović

Milan Aćimović (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Аћимовић; 31 May 1898 – 25 May 1945) was a Serbian politician and collaborationist with the Axis in Yugoslavia during World War II.

Milan Aćimović
Minister of Internal Affairs of the Government of National Salvation
In office
29 August 1941 – 10 November 1942
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byTanasije Dinić
Head of the Council of Commissioners Interior of the Commissioner Government
In office
30 April 1941 – 29 August 1941
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byMilan Nedić as Prime Minister
Personal details
Born30 May 1898
Pinosava, Kingdom of Serbia
Died25 May 1945(1945-05-25) (aged 46)
Zelengora, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
(now Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Political partyYugoslav Radical Union
ProfessionPolitician
Military service
Allegiance Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Government of National Salvation
 Nazi Germany

Early life

Milan Aćimović was born on 31 May 1898 in Pinosava, in the Belgrade municipality of Voždovac. He finished gymnasium in Belgrade and received a law degree from the University of Belgrade in 1923.[1] On 2 September 1935, he and Velibor Jonić successfully petitioned the Ministry of Interior to legalize the Yugoslav National Movement (Zbor).[2] He became the chief of police in Belgrade in 1938 and was appointed Minister of Interior by Milan Stojadinović on 21 December 1938. He held this position until 5 February 1939. In April 1939, he was arrested alongside Stojadinović and was detained until August 1940.[1][3]

World War II

On 30 May 1941, a few weeks after the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, Aćimović formed the first puppet government in Serbia, called the Commissioner Government. He was the leader of the government until 29 August of that year when it was dissolved.

Aćimović's puppet government was replaced by another puppet government, the Government of National Salvation, headed by former general Milan Nedić. In this government, Aćimović served as minister of the interior. He was sympathetic toward the Chetniks of Draža Mihailović and maintained close contact with Mihailović. The Germans suspected that Aćimović warned Mihailović of the launching of Operation Mihailovic, which was conducted over 6–7 December 1941. The warning, apparently given the day before the offensive began, enabled Mihailović to escape. In January 1942, he visited Serbian prisoners in the Osnabrück concentration camp in Nazi Germany.

Despite these actions and the Germans’ suspicions, Aćimović managed to stay on good terms with them, even meeting with Mihailović in March 1942 with German permission. On 10 November 1942, Aćimović was replaced as minister of interior by Colonel Tanasije Dinić, who was seen as more anti-Mihailović. After his replacement and the expulsion of the Germans from Serbia in October 1944, Aćimović acted as liaison between Mihailović and German Envoy Hermann Neubacher in Vienna.

After the German administration in Serbia fell, Aćimović joined a Chetnik column. He was killed by Yugoslav Partisans at the Battle of Zelengora in May 1945.

Notes
  1. Božović 1985, p. 17.
  2. Cohen 1996, p. 15.
  3. Jarman 1997, p. 259.

References
  • Božović, Branislav (1985). Milan Aćimović. Zagreb: Centar za informacije i publicitet. OCLC 486883834.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Cohen, Philip J. (1996). Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-0-89096-760-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Jarman, Robert L. (1997). Yugoslavia: 1938–1948. Cambridge: Archive Editions. ISBN 978-1-85207-950-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2005. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34656-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tomasevich, Jozo (1975). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: The Chetniks. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0857-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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