Kozara 1942: Selected testimonies and documents

„During the fist daysof the Offensive the partisans offered strong resistance to a much superior enemy and in the face of the pressure they gradually retreated deeper into Mt. Kozara. About 80.000 civilians, mostly Serbs, retreated with them. Refuges were organized by municipalities and counties.The people from area of Bosanski Novi took refuge in the valley of the Mlječanica river, from the hamlet of Bokana to the Grabovac stream.

The population of the municipality of Bosanska Kostajnica settled in the area of Gračanica, Mlječanica and Palež. People from the Prijedor county also fled to the area of Mlječanica (Široka Luka area), then to the area of Maslin bair, Gradina and Komanda. People fled from the territory of Bosanska Dubica to the area of confluence of Gračanica, Pašini Konaci and Palež. When it became clear that the partisans could not offer resistance the headquartes decided to try to break through the enemy lines. The headquarters of the detachment and the District Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia held a meeting on July 2 in Mrakovica and made a decision to break through the ring. Breakthrough was to begin on July 3-4 1942, in the area of Partija, in the Mt. Kozara near the village of Gornji Jelovac.

The given direction of the breakthrough was on the line Jelovac-Jutrogošta-Gradina-Kriva Rijeka-Karan. The breakthrough began exactly at midnight between July 3 and 4. The forces of the First and Shock Battalions managed to break through the ring to the Patrija-Planinica-Jutrogošta line. The Second Battalionwas stopped on Jugovića Hill and, with heavy losses, was forced to retrat to its initials positions as was the Third Battalion whose left flank was thus threatened.