The best cycling routes in Срп Засавица

After this climb from Bešenovačko jezero towards Bešenovo, you will be able to enjoy a nice downslope ride all the way to Veliki Radinci. Low traffic, nice asphalt.

Nice asphalt stretch, connecting Mačvanska Mitrovica and village Zasavica. Fully isolated from traffic, good surface. Sometimes it might be overgrown with grass.

During the night between June 8th and 9th, 1942, Pinki and two other comrades unsuccessfully attempted to blow up the railroad between Sremska Mitrovica and Ruma. Instead, they destroyed two smaller bridges on the road between Ruma and Veliki Radinci and spent the night in Mala Remeta. The next day, June 10th, 1942, a major raid by German military units began in Jazak, following a mass shooting in Grgurevci. Near Mala Remeta, Pinki's group encountered numerous residents of Jazak who were fleeing into the woods to escape the German pursuit. In order to halt the pursuit and enable the people to reach the forest, they engaged in an unequal battle with about a hundred Germans. Pinki and Sima Lužajić from Jarak were killed in the fighting. A simple monument with a plaque and access plateau was erected at the site of their deaths after the war, known among the people as "Pinki's grave." During the construction of the Memorial Park in Sremska Mitrovica, Pinki's remains were exhumed and transferred there, where he was reburied alongside other People’s Heroes – Janko Čmelik, Slobodan Bajić Paja, and Stanko Paunović Veljko. [This site is part of the Liberation Routes cycling tour "Fruška Gora Liberation Circuit"] https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1870928931?share_token=arNOGj2dKOO605JTe2ZpbVW7s7N624smYsy5No7bVl78oCzjv4&ref=wtd

The monument is located in a place called Orašje, on the outskirts of Grgurevci, where the German army executed around 270 villagers on June 6th, 1942. The day before, one motorized German unit engaged in a battle with a group of partisans in the forest above Grgurevci. One highly decorated German officer was shot, and around ten soldiers were killed or wounded. Furious over their defeat, German units surrounded the village, killing residents on surrounding farms as they proceeded. The next day, another group of armed Wehrmacht soldiers arrived in 14 trucks. In the village center, with the help of the local German population, Serbian civilians were herded to the center of the village. All adult males aged 16 to 70 were taken to the Orašje site, where they were shot, thrown into a large pit, and buried. On the tenth anniversary of the massacre, in 1952, a monument was erected at Orašje in the form of a figure of a peasant in the moment of execution, with his shirt unbuttoned and defiantly prominent chest. The sculpture stands on a high pedestal with plaques displaying the names of the Grgurevci residents executed on June 6th, 1942, fallen fighters of the People's Liberation Movement (NOP), and other victims of fascist terror. [This site is part of the Liberation Routes cycling tour "Fruška Gora Liberation Circuit"] https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1870928931?share_token=arNOGj2dKOO605JTe2ZpbVW7s7N624smYsy5No7bVl78oCzjv4&ref=wtd

In the mid-1980s, two of the most significant figures of World War II from this village were commemorated with monuments in the center of Grgurevci. Marko Peričin Kamenjar, a simple local craftsman, by a twist of fate ended up joining the partisans in August 1941 after killing an occupying gendarme in a tavern brawl. Along with Pinki’s group, he participated in the liberation of political prisoners from the Mitrovica prison, and then joined the ranks of the Fruška Gora Partisan Detachment. He distinguished himself through his bravery and resourcefulness, rapidly advancing in military ranks. Together with the other partisans, he went to Bosnia in November 1942, where he became the commander of the 1st Vojvodina Brigade. By the end of the war, he had become the commander of the 16th Vojvodina Division (a larger military formation consisting of several brigades), and after the war,  held numerous high positions in the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army). He was declared a People’s hero in 1951. Karl Bernajs (1894-1941), a German from Grgurevci, was one of the more prominent communist activists in this part of Srem. A carpenter by trade, Bernajs had been drawn to the revolutionary workers' movement since World War I and was already a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) by 1920. Through his persistent work and activism with the Community Library which he founded in the village, he managed to establish a local communist party organization before the war. After the occupation, Bernajs demonstrated great agility in organizing the uprising and connecting small, scattered groups of activists in the Fruška Gora villages. He had a particularly strong influence in Grgurevci, Šuljam, Manđelos, and Bešenovo. During September and October 1941, there was a major crackdown on the communist organization in Srem. On this occasion, Karl Bernajs was arrested. He was tried in Vukovar and executed along with a group of 33 communists and members of the SKOJ  at the Dudik execution site on October 19, 1941. [This site is part of the Liberation Routes cycling tour "Fruška Gora Liberation Circuit"] https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1870928931?share_token=arNOGj2dKOO605JTe2ZpbVW7s7N624smYsy5No7bVl78oCzjv4&ref=wtd

Between Manđelos and Grgurevac lie the remnants of the former agricultural estate called Vranjaš. At the heart of this complex stands the birth house of the most famous People's Hero from Srem, Boško Palkovljević Pinki (1920-1942). Pinki had already gained fame in Novi Sad before World War II as the organizer of a school strike at the Secondary Technical School. Due to his activism and involvement with the Communist Party, he was arrested and expelled from the school. In the summer of 1941, his house became a gathering place for young SKOJ activists, where the famous action to rescue political prisoners from the prison in Sremska Mitrovica was organized. During the war, this estate was an important Ustaša stronghold. It was liberated by the 6th Vojvodina Brigade in a bloody showdown, which ended with many casualties on both sides. The birth house of Boško Palkovljević Pinki has been declared a cultural monument. However, today it lies in complete ruins. The bust of Pinki, which once stood in front of the house, has been stolen. Close-by are the graves of two unknown partisans, as well as two commemorative plaques dedicated to the Second Regional Conference of the United Anti Fascist Youth of Srem that was held here during September 1944 and to the formation of the 11th Vojvodina Brigade. This brigade was formed from proven and reliable personnel, and its main task was to protect the main headquarters of Vojvodina’s partisan units. [This site is part of the Liberation Routes cycling tour "Fruška Gora Liberation Circuit"] https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1870928931?share_token=arNOGj2dKOO605JTe2ZpbVW7s7N624smYsy5No7bVl78oCzjv4&ref=wtd

The Village of Ležimir was an antifascist stronghold that housed its first partisan unit as early as 1941, fully supporting the People's Liberation Movement (NOP) from 1942 onwards.  Partly due to the occupier’s terror, and partly because of their engagement in the partisan fight, Ležimir lost a fifth of its population. The most severe terror struck on November 27, 1943, when Gestapo police led by Anton Bauer and Major Meurl's motorized unit occupied the village. All residents were corralled into the church courtyard, whose tower was rigged with explosives. Over 100 villagers were killed by machine gun fire or perished under the collapsed church tower. A memorial mound bears a plaque with the names of 344 Ležimir residents who lost their lives during World War II. The village erected a monument honoring the victims of fascist terror in 1962. The location chosen for the monument was a partisan lookout during the war. From it, the forest where partisans fought the occupiers can be seen, as well as the local church, which symbolizes the suffering of Ležimir's people. In front of the monument stands a polished red stone, engraved with a verse from Serbian national poet Aleksa Šantić: "Even when you take our men's lives, / our graves will fight against you." The sculptural monument, crafted in bronze by sculptor Pavle Radovanović, depicts a young man embracing a boy. It symbolically represents the non-combatant population protected by the partisans, highlighting that the partisans were equally dedicated to safeguarding local civilians and resisting oppressors. [This site is part of the Liberation Routes cycling tour "Fruška Gora Liberation Circuit"] https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1870928931?share_token=arNOGj2dKOO605JTe2ZpbVW7s7N624smYsy5No7bVl78oCzjv4&ref=wtd

The "Gypsy camp" is a small meadow named after the Roma from surrounding villages who sought refuge here in 1942 while fleeing from Ustaša persecution (although this location was known even before the war as an important meeting place for Roma people). That year, the 4th Company of the Fruška Gora Detachment operated in this area, with many younger Roma joining its ranks, while older individuals, women, and children assisted with kitchen duties, caring for livestock, digging shelters, and other tasks. The camp housed a workshop for weapon repair and bomb making, with nearby facilities for wheat storage, threshing, and a mill. During the Great Enemy Offensive on Fruška Gora in 1942, the occupiers discovered the location and destroyed the whole infrastructure found there. Today, the site of the "Gypsy camp" hosts two memorials. One is dedicated to the 4th Company of the Fruška Gora Detachment, and the other to the 6th East-Bosnia Brigade. In the autumn of 1942, after enduring months of heavy combat in the Bosnian mountains, this military unit was forced to relocate to Srem for recovery. A lasting connection was established with the partisan forces in Srem, who organized a grand reception for their Bosnian comrades. Through the collective efforts of numerous Fruška Gora villages, the Bosnians were fed, healed, and rehabilitated, which enabled their return to Bosnia within a month’s time. At the decision of Srem's political and military leaders, along with the 6th East-Bosnia Brigade, most of Srem's partisans were sent to Bosnia, where they formed the first Vojvodina brigades. From autumn 1942 until the end of the war, eastern Bosnia remained the primary destination for partisan fighters from Srem and the rest of Vojvodina. [This site is part of the Liberation Routes cycling tour "Fruška Gora Liberation Circuit"] https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1870928931?share_token=arNOGj2dKOO605JTe2ZpbVW7s7N624smYsy5No7bVl78oCzjv4&ref=wtd