Thousands of people from Montenegro, including many from Cetinje, tried to escape and retreated toward Slovenia together with Chetniks commanded by Pavle Đurišić, himself the perpetrator of multiple massacres of local Muslims.
[2] Already in June 1941 the Regional Committee of CPY for Montenegro, Boka and Sandžak issued a proclamation inviting people to "final liquidation of capitalist system".
[5] The frequent killings under the Leftist errors policy began in Montenegro since August 1941 while its intensity was increased since September 1941.
[6][7][8][4] The Partisans occupied Kolašin in January and February 1942, and turned against all real and potential opposition, killing about 300 people and throwing their mangled corpses into pits they called the "dogs' cemetery".
[13] The communists used gun and mortar fire to constantly attack both Chetniks and civilians while they retreated toward Podgorica where masses of people gathered to escape the red terror.
[20] After the massacres, Communists published a poster in which they proclaimed that all executed citizens of Cetinje were sentenced to death because of collaboration with occupiers.
[24] The list of victims also includes former major of Cetinje, Tomo Milošević, who was murdered although he was performing his official duties only during the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, not during the occupation.
[29] No public person from Montenegrin military or political establishment has ever condemned the massacre committed by communists, except People's Hero of Yugoslavia General Colonel Blažo Janković who admitted that the "explanation" for the murder of a group of professors in Cetinje is that they were killed by their former bad students.