The Department for People's Protection, commonly known under its Serbo-Croatian acronym as OZNA, was the security agency of Communist Yugoslavia that existed between 1944 and 1946.
Founding
The OZNA was founded on 13 May 1944 according to decision of Josip Broz Tito and under the leadership of Aleksandar Ranković (nom de guerre Marko), a top member of the Politburo until his downfall in 1966, and a close associate of Josip Broz Tito.
On 24 May 1944, only a day before the Operation Rösselsprung, Tito signed the Military Courts Regulations (), which in article number 27 stated that the court reaches its decisions whether the accused are guilty or not based on its free evaluation, regardless of the evidence. Based on the investigations performed by the OZNA, the military courts reached their decisions.
Function
Until the OZNA was established, intelligence and security tasks were carried out by several organizations. In spring 1944, the tasks were carried out by the Section for Protection of People in central and western Bosnia, part of Croatia, and Vojvodina; the centers of territorial intelligence in Croatia, Vojvodina and Montenegro; the intelligence division of the Internal Affairs Section within the Slovene National Liberation Committee presidency in Slovenia; and the intelligence service of the partisan detachments in Central Serbia, Macedonia, and Kosovo.
Organization
The reorganization of intelligence and security could not satisfy the growing needs of the Supreme Staff. The OZNA was created as an autonomous entity, a military organization whose unitary structure and centralized leadership were to ensure a tough political line in the intelligence and counter-intelligence services. All OZNA tasks were divided into four groups, each comprising an organizational unit:
intelligence under Maks Baće Milić
counter-intelligence under
army security under Jeftimije , and
technical/statistics under Mijat Vuletić
The first section (intelligence) organised intelligence activity in other countries, enemy state institutions, and occupied territory. It recruited agents and sent them to work outside the borders of the liberated territory. It collected intelligence on enemy agent networks, police, quisling state machinery, and quisling military units. This was essentially an offensive intelligence service, directed against foreign countries and occupied territory.
The second section (counterintelligence service in the liberated territory) collected information from trusted informers on political groups which had either joined the national liberation movement or stayed outside it, on enemy agent activities, and on armed groups of national traitors and fifth columnists.
The third section organized counter-intelligence protection of armed forces and was active only in the NOVJ & PO (People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and Partisan Detachments).
The fourth section performed statistical and technical tasks, processed information, and kept records. This section also included special photography, secret writing, radio centers, and decoders.
A fifth and sixth section were formed in the OZNA in March and April 1945.
The fifth section was formed as a counterintelligence service against foreign agent networks in Yugoslavia; that is, foreign intelligence services. (In 1946, this section merged with the new third section, which was created after the military counterintelligence service became independent).
The sixth section performed tasks dealing with counter-intelligence protection of transportation, but was absorbed soon after its establishment by the second sector.
Activities
When the National Liberation Army changed its name into the Yugoslav Army (JA) on March 1, 1945, the OZNA of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia proclaimed by special directive (March 24, 1945) a new organization of the JA – OZNA. The OZNA was in direct command of counter-intelligence protection of military command posts, institutions, and units. Sections were set up within independent corps. This third OZNA section was in force until the end of July, 1945.
The "military" and "civil" part of the OZNA began to separate in 1945 and split in March, 1946. At that time, the new splinter organizations, the Administrative Directorate for Security of JA – KOS (Kontra-Obaveštajna Služba) was formed from the military part and the Administrative State Security Directorate (UDBA) from its civilian counterpart.