Handgun magazine used by a Yugoslavian partisan
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm) | Width: 0.375 inches (0.953 cm) | Depth: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm)
Creator(s)
- Dudo Montiljo (Previous owner)
- Dudo Montiljo (Subject)
- Fabrique Nationale Herstal (Manufacturer)
Biographical History
Duda Montiljo (birth name Leon Montiljo, 1909-1995) was born in Visoko, Austria Hungary (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) to Jakob and Rahele Montiljo. As an adult, he settled in Prnjavor and worked as a merchant. On April 6, 1941, Germany and Italy, supported by Hungary and Bulgaria, invaded Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was partitioned, and central Yugoslavia, including Prnjavor, was formed into the independent State of Croatia, which was governed by the Ustaše and administered by the Germans. The regime enacted anti-Jewish laws, confiscated property and money, forced males to work hard labor and then began deporting Jews to camps. Dudo’s mother, Rahele, and his four siblings, Rene, Klare, Smoela, and Morica were deported to and killed in the camps. In 1943, Dudo joined the 3rd battalion of the 10th Brigade of the People's Liberation Army (Yugoslav partisans). He fought with the partisans in Yugoslavia during the war and lost three fingers, including the second and third fingers of his right hand. After recovery, Dudo worked in the People’s Liberation Committee in Hercegovina until the end of the war. After the war he retired from the military a lieutenant and was recognized as a disabled veteran due to his injuries. He was married to Anica Finci.
Archival History
The magazine was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 by the Federation of Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia
Scope and Content
Browning Model 1922 pistol magazine used by Dudo Montiljo, while he was a member of a partisan group that fought the Nazi occupation forces and Ustaše collaborators in Yugoslavia during World War II. The Model 1922 was developed by American gun designer, John Browning, and manufactured in Belgium by Fabrique Nationale. The gun was adopted by many European militaries, including Yugoslavia, and appropriated by Germany after their occupation of Belgium during World War II. Dudo lived in Prnjavor, where he worked as a merchant when Yugoslavia was invaded and partitioned by Germany and its allies in April, 1941. After the Yugoslav surrender, Dudo joined the 3rd battalion of the 10th Brigade of the People's Liberation Army (Yugoslav partisans). While fighting with the partisans Dudo lost three fingers, including the second and third fingers of his right hand. After his recovery, Dudo worked in the People’s Liberation Committee in Hercegovina until the end of the war. The Germans and their Croatian Ustaše collaborators deported and killed Dudo’s mother, Rahele, and his four siblings, Rene, Klare, Smoela, and Morica.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Metal, dark silver-colored, handgun magazine for a Fabrique Nationale Browning Model 1922. The rectangular shaped magazine is angled forward with a rounded front side and a flat back. The flat sides have two columns of small holes, four on the rear and three in the front column. The bottom is wide and flat and extends forward past the magazine. The interior contains a spring that extends up from the bottom and attaches to a platform that sits at the top of the magazine, and is depressed when a cartridge is inserted.
People
- Browning, John M. (John Moses), 1855-1926.
Subjects
- Yugoslavia.
- Holocaust survivors--Yugoslavia--Biography.
- Ammunition containers.
- Herstal (Belgium)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Jewish resistance.
- World War, 1939-1945--Jewish resistance.
- World War, 1939-1945--Occupied territories.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Yugoslavia.
Genre
- Object
- Weapons
- Containers.