THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN WORLD WAR II

Abstract

The rich history of the Serbian Orthodox Church was full of numerous trials and sufferings, from which the period of World War II left incalculable consequences. The suffering of the Serbian people in this war was epochal, millions of victims, a destroyed and occupied country, and on top of all that, the unfortunate civil war, brought the Serbian Church to the brink of material existence. Bishops, priests, and monks experienced the fate of their own people, which was reflected in their mass suffering. The barely recovered hierarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church after World War I found itself under renewed attack by old wartime enemies who invaded again and this time occupied the country without organized and decisive resistance. The material reconstruction of churches, monasteries and theological schools that followed the Great War once again found itself in the path of the destructive machinery of the Axis powers. This paper discusses the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church on the eve of the outbreak of World War II, as well as its status during the war that engulfed our country. It also specifically addresses the position and suffering of the Serbian Orthodox Church on the territory of the newly formed "Independent State of Croatia" and the consequences of the war suffering.