1. Ismet Popovac was a Bosnian Muslim lawyer and physician who led a Muslim Chetnik militia known as the Muslim People's Military Organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina during World War II.
16 Facts About Ismet Popovac
1. 2.
Ismet Popovac is said to have been candidate for Vladko Macek's electoral list, but was left without a job in the Yugoslav state government after the creation of the Banovina of Croatia in August 1939.
3.
Ismet Popovac was a proponent of Bosnian Muslim cooperation with the Chetniks and suggested that they recruit Muslims into their ranks.
4.
Ismet Popovac was a Bosnian Muslim and hailed from the town of Nevesinje.
5.
Ismet Popovac finished medical school in Belgrade and was a vocal South Slav nationalist throughout the interwar period.
6.
Ismet Popovac is said to have been a candidate for Vladko Macek's electoral list, but was left without a job in the state government following the creation of the Banovina of Croatia in August 1939.
7.
Ismet Popovac quickly became one of the most prominent pro-Chetnik Muslims, alongside Mustafa Pasic and former Sarajevo police chief Fehim Musakadic.
8.
On 21 July 1942, Ismet Popovac wrote a letter to Mihailovic, extolling the merits of recruiting Muslims into the Chetniks' ranks.
9.
Ismet Popovac proposed that Muslim troops "be gathered in either a joint or a specific Chetnik detachment".
10.
In October 1942, Ismet Popovac issued an appeal to Muslim Partisans, urging them to join the Chetniks and turn against the Ustase.
11.
Several days later, Ismet Popovac arrived in the town to console the Muslim population and advise the Chetniks there against committing further atrocities.
12.
Ismet Popovac attempted to recruit new Chetnik fighters from among the local Muslim population, but was unsuccessful due to the extent of Chetnik atrocities against them.
13.
In January 1943, Ismet Popovac led the MNVO in an attack which resulted in the capture of a communist village predominantly inhabited by Muslims.
14.
Between January and March 1943, Ismet Popovac's Chetniks fought the Partisans as part of the Axis-led military operation known as Case White, but did not distinguish themselves.
15.
Hoare states that Ismet Popovac was killed by members of the Partisan 10th Herzegovinan Brigade.
16.
The historian and economist Jozo Tomasevich writes that Ismet Popovac was killed by an assassin.