GROTTE DE TITO

This cave (Titova Pećina) is the most famous of the hiding places used by Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980) during the Second World War. It was here, in a crack in the Gradina hill (700 m above sea level), that the Yugoslav leader narrowly escaped death in May 1944.

History. Established first in Bihać (1942), then in Jajce (1943), the Yugoslav resistance command was set up in this cave from January 6, 1944, with a wooden hut at the entrance and a water source 53 m deep. In April 1944, the partisans got wind of a German plan to retake the area and capture their leader. Large numbers of troops were moved to defend Dvrar. As for Tito, he spent his nights in the shelter of another cave, in Bastasi, 7 km to the northwest. However, he continued to work in the Drvar cave and on the evening of May 24, 1944, he decided to sleep there. That night, the German forces launched Operation Rösselsprung ("Rider's Leap"). This seventh offensive against the partisans was ordered by Hitler with the aim of capturing or killing Tito. About 700 SS paratroopers were dropped at night. Soon joined by 11,000 other German soldiers, Chetniks and Ustasha who arrived by road, they fought a real battle against about 15,000 partisans until May 26. The hut at the entrance to the cave was destroyed, and nearly 6,000 partisans and local residents were killed. But Tito himself managed to escape to Ataševac (17 km to the northeast) and then to the Kupres polje, where a Soviet plane picked him up and evacuated him to Italy on June 4. The Nazis only managed to take one important prisoner: Randolph Churchill, the son of the British Prime Minister, then a liaison officer to Tito. But he too managed to escape quickly. In 1945, the Memorial Museum of May 25, 1944 (Memorijalni kompleks 25. Maj 1944) was established. The wooden hut that housed the HQ was reconstructed, while an exhibition space was opened along the Unac. The site was very famous and attracted up to 200,000 visitors per year. It was partially destroyed when the city was taken by the Serbian Krajina army in 1992. It reopened to the public in 2006.

Visit. Allow an hour. Because, in addition to the visit of the small museum, it is necessary to go up by a path arranged until the cave. Most of the 7000 original objects of the museum were stolen in 1992-1995. Only the carcass of a German tank (outside) and an original watch of Marshal Tito are preserved here. For all the rest, it is a question of reconstitutions: uniforms of Ustasha and German soldiers, Tito's uniform... Nevertheless, the exhibition is interesting with photos, maps and documents. The museum also houses an ethnographic and archaeological collection. Then, you have to climb the hill. The path is in the shade and follows the bed of the stream (without name) which comes from the bowels of the cave. It is green and even more delightful in early spring when the melting snow transforms this small tributary of the Unac into a powerful torrent with a pretty waterfall just below the hut. The hut is placed at the entrance of the cave of 6 m width and 7 m height, the only part open to visits. In the hut is reconstituted the headquarters of the partisans. Downstairs, near the museum, there is a store selling the famous Drvar rakija and souvenirs with the image of Tito.