That meant that whole sections of the population who had opposed Tito were doomed to punishment. One of Titos closes aides. Milovan Djilas. wrote in his book Wartime that people were held "guilty not necessarily of having done something. but simply of having belonged to something 0 * * OZNA. the secret police. was methodically tracking them down. spreading its dragnet. conducting arrests and executions." An enormous flood of terrified refugees fled over the border into Italy and Austria. These included several hundred thousand Croatian soldiers and civilians. In May 1945. these refugees made contact with the British Army at the quiet Austrian village of Bleiburg. hoping to win sanctuary. Instead. they were disarmed and on May 16 escorted back across the border into Yugoslavia. where Titos forces were waiting for them. According to accounts. the first groups were fired upon and massacred. Other contingents of soldiers and refugees who had surrendered to the British were also extradited back to Yugoslavia in railway cars and military vehicles. Still others were forced to march across Yugo. slavia. Eyewitness accounts that have been compiled. relate unspeakable cruelty and suffering.
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refugees