Panta Draškić
Draškić in 1918
Minister of Labor of the Government of National Salvation
In office
29 August 1941  10 November 1942
Preceded byNone
Personal details
Born
Pantelija Draškić

30 November 1881
Užice, Principality of Serbia
Died22 August 1957(1957-08-22) (aged 75)
Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
ProfessionSoldier, politician
Military service
Allegiance Kingdom of Serbia (1901–1918)
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1919–1941)
Government of National Salvation (1941–1942)
 Nazi Germany (1941–1942)
Chetniks (1943–1945)
Years of service1901–1936, 1943–1945
RankBrigadier General

Pantelija "Panta" Draškić (Serbian Cyrillic: Пантелија Панта Драшкић; 30 November 1881 – 22 August 1957) was a Serbian army general and politician whose career spanned four decades.

Biography

Draškić was born in Užice in 1881, and served in the Balkan Wars and World War I. By the 1930s he was Adjutant to King Alexander I of Yugoslavia.

During World War II he sided with Milan Nedić's Government of National Salvation, which collaborated with Nazi Germany. He encouraged anti-partisan activities and recruited soldiers to fight the communists. In August 1941 he was appointed Minister of Labor for the regime, a post he soon left.

In 1943, Draškić joined the Chetniks, and returned to his rank of brigadier general.

During the occupation, he was the only member of Nedić's regime that is known to have aided in the rescue of Jews. He saved a Jewish Colonel, Abraham Beraha, and his wife from persecution by obtaining papers making them exempt from the laws and keeping them safe.

After the collapse of the government and the communist takeover, many Chetniks and former members of the Nedić regime fled with the Germans to Austria, though Draškić did not. He remained in Yugoslavia, and received a prison sentence from the communist authorities. He was the only member of the regime who remained in the country that did not get executed.[1]

References

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