Az „albán golgota”

By the end of 1915, as a consequence of the successful multi-front offensive of the Central Powers, Serbia was on the verge of collapse. Despite avoiding the enemy’s constant attempts of encirclement, the Serbs had to give up a large part of their country. The only hope of salvation for the beleaguered Serbian army was to break through the enemy front, but the Central Powers prevented all endeavours to do so. The last hope of resistance for the Serbian army was lost in the Battle of Kosovo at the end of November 1915. Nevertheless, instead of capitulating, the Serbian army retreated into the mountains of Montenegro and Albania, in compliance with Chief of General Staff Radomir Putnik’s order of 25. November, with the aim of reaching the Adriatic and joining the Allies. The Serbian historiography calls this event the „Albanian Golgotha”. The Serbian army also brought with it a large number of Austro-Hungarian POWs, who endured many hardships during the march. Many of them were decimated by the death march, and their fate was not significantly alleviated by the transfer to the island of Asinara. In our study, we examine the overall condition of the Serbian army, the circumstances of the withdrawal as well as the path of the death march. Regarding the latter, we believe that a detailed description of the ordeal of the Austro-Hungarian POWs is essential, considering that the Serbian historiography barely mentions the violent deportation of the POWs, although it is estimated that among the prisoners who took part in the „forgotten death march” only 7.000–8.000 ended up returning home.