October 2023
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Leskovački zbornik
According to the first administrative division after the Second World War, the Vranje District (okrug) consisted of six counties (srez): Bosiljgradski, Masurički, Pčinjski, Poljanički, Preševski and Vranjski. The first systematic investigation of crimes during the occupation after the liberation was entrusted to the State Commission for the Investigation of the Crimes of the Occupiers and Their Abettors. This Commission was established in Jajce at the Second Session of AVNOJ. The paper statistically analyzes the victims in the Vranje District according to the perpetrators, geographical origin and manner of suffering. In addition to the victims, the paper also analyzes “bodily injuries” as well as “violations of personal freedom”. In the first census from 1945, 1,811 victims were recorded in the area of the Vranje District. The Bulgarian occupation formations were recorded as the biggest perpetrators of all crimes. Since this census was done superficially, the process was repeated at the beginning of 1946. In the repeated census 3,937 victims were recorded in the aforementioned area. The systematic census of war victims was initiated by the Federal Executive Council in 1964. Due to the passage of time and the ideological component, it is assumed that its scope was 56‒59% of the actual victims. In six municipalities, which previously formed the Vranje District, 3,506 victims of the war who lost their lives and 14,238 victims who survived the war were registered. Although useful for getting a general idea of the victims of the Second World War, we believe that both censuses of victims have significant shortcomings, primarily due to their ideological component. Nevertheless, the results of both censuses are an indispensable source for the quantification of war crimes on the territory of Yugoslavia.