Ustasha Secret Committee for the extermination of Serbs and Jews in Tuzla planned to mine Cathedral church of the Holy Dormition of the Mother of God and kill assembled faithful on the Christmas Eve, on January 6, 1942. Executions were also planned in Srpska Varos.
Tuzla’s Mufti Sefket ef. Kurt found out this information and, with a group of prominent people from Tuzla, asked for an urgent audience with the German commander of the city Lieutenant Wista, and requested from him to prevent this crime.
German Command, out of their interest, immediately posted a poster warning that “no one must not harass anyone, take away or demolish other people’s property or touch the population which is celebrating (holiday)”. Thanks to the engagement of Mufti Kurt, there were no mass crimes in Tuzla. This event takes the central historical place of defense of life together in Tuzla and the region.
The best confirmation of how much Mufti Kurt was known and respected by the people, without differences in religion or ethnicity, is his big funeral on June 23, 1963, which besides tens of thousands of citizens was attended by the heads of the district and municipal assemblies in Tuzla, member and delegate of the Commission for Religious Affairs of the Executive Council of B&H.
Mufti Kurt was awarded with the Order of Brotherhood and Unity of the first order.
(Source: nap.ba)
