The 1931 Vijrje Anniversary Attack was a complex, multi-pronged terrorist plot carried out by the Bosken separatist group BRC-21, targeting the official celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Divine Republic. While many elements of the plot were thwarted by Kresimirian security forces, several components succeeded, resulting in 7 civilian casualties and a significant political fallout that highlighted internal disagreements within the Kresimirian government over security policy. Three of the primary BRC-21 conspirators, Maxi Sauerbeck, Alex Gilger, and Jan Bohn, were arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
Background
The 10th Anniversary Celebration
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Republic’s founding on May 27, 1921, the government planned a major week-long festival. The city of Vijrje, in District V (Moskiprovac), was chosen as the host city. The location was highly symbolic, as the surrounding region had been the site of intense fighting during the Kresimirian Unification War. The event was intended to be a grand display of national unity and strength, featuring speeches from prominent politicians, military parades, and cultural exhibitions. Attendees included numerous senators, Unification War veterans, and influential businessmen from across the Republic.
Security Preparations and Disputes
The Kresimirian government was acutely aware that a high-profile nationalist gathering would be a prime target for BRC-21. The local senators for Moskiprovac, Nika Radman and Dora Martinovic of the RPP, were tasked with overseeing security. Radman in particular, along with Chair of the Assembly Filip Novak, advocated for an overwhelming military presence and extremely strict security protocols, including mandatory searches of all attendees.
However, this approach was partially overruled by Senator Dora Martinovic. Martinovic, concerned that an overly militarized event would project an image of a state under siege rather than one of strength, ordered a reduction in some of the most visible security measures. Crucially, she forbade the Kresimirian Army from conducting invasive bag checks on every attendee, arguing it would be unseemly for a public celebration. This decision would later be identified as a critical security failure.
BRC-21’s Plan
Unbeknownst to the Kresimirian authorities, BRC-21 had been planning a highly ambitious, multi-pronged attack on the event for nearly a year. The plan, codenamed Operation Decennial, was designed to cause mass casualties and chaos. It involved three main components:
- Suicide Bombings: A team of ten operatives, disguised as civilians, were to infiltrate the main festival grounds and detonate explosives in crowded areas.
- Gas Attacks: Teams were tasked with releasing toxic gas into several enclosed speech halls and locking the doors to prevent escape.
- Kidnappings: A specialized unit was ordered to abduct high-value targets, with Senators Radman and Martinovic being the primary objectives.
The Attack: May 27, 1931
The anniversary festival began as scheduled on the morning of May 27. The heavy security presence, though scaled back from the original plan, was immediately effective. Throughout the first few hours, Kresimirian security forces arrested dozens of individuals in and around the event perimeter on suspicion of subversive activity, successfully disrupting a significant portion of BRC-21’s operational teams. However, several cells managed to slip through the cordon.
The Bombings
At approximately 1:15 PM, two of the ten suicide bombers participating in the attack managed to advance beyond the outer security perimeter, reaching their targets near the main stage in Republic Square. An estimated 3,200 spectators, staff, and vendors were gathered in the square.
According to the official incident timeline released by the Council for Internal Affairs (CIA), the pair had separated from their original formation roughly 90 seconds prior to detonation, taking advantage of a blind spot created by crowd movement and an ongoing stage transition.
The first operative’s device failed to detonate. It is believed an improperly soldered booster charge malfunctioned. Witnesses reported the bomber exhibited visibly erraatic behaviour, repeatedly adjusting a concealed chest harness. He was spotted acting suspiciously by a security officer, Officer Jovan Kales, and was shot and killed before he could manually trigger the bomb.
The second operative successfully detonated his device, a 6.2kg IED, at 1:15:42PM near the entrance to the Central Provincial Bank of Moskiprovac located on the eastern side of the square. The explosion killed the bomber and six nearby civilians, injured nine others, and caused significant damage to the bank’s facade. Three parked vehicles were ignited and caused further damage, and a temporary power outage caused many of the festival’s lights to turn off.
The Gas Attack
Simultaneously, a BRC-21 team managed to deploy a canister of industrial-grade chlorine gas inside a smaller hall where Professor Emil Javic of Karlovac University was giving a talk. However, their attempt to lock the doors from the outside was thwarted when attendees, alerted by the commotion, broke the locking mechanism from within. The hall was quickly evacuated, and only three people suffered minor injuries from gas inhalation.
The Failed Kidnappings
All attempts to kidnap high-ranking politicians, including Radman and Martinovic, failed due to the heavy personal security surrounding them. A BRC-21 team did attempt to abduct two prominent local Kresimirian businessmen as they were leaving the event. However, as the operatives tried to force the men into a van, they were attacked by a group of civilian bystanders. The bystanders successfully subdued two of the kidnappers, Alex Gilger and Jan Bohn, holding them until local police arrived. Gilger and Bohn were both charged with several counts of terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism and were sentenced to life in prison.
Aftermath and Consequences
While Operation Decennial was a catastrophic failure for BRC-21 in terms of its objectives, it was still a major security breach.
Using information gathered from Gilger and Bohn after their arrest, Maxi Sauerbeck, a senior BRC-21 operative, was arrested three days later in his house in Sprodvice, Moraviskameja. He was officially charged with several counts of domestic terrorism and murder and sentenced to prison in life. Sauerbeck later died in prison in 1948.
The attack caused significant political embarrassment for Senator Dora Martinovic, Senator Nika Radman, and leader of the RPP Filip Novak. Martinovic’s decision to overrule the stricter security proposals of Radman and Novak was widely criticized in the press and by the RPP’s political opponents in the Sons of Kresimir. The incident highlighted a growing rift within the Republic. Martinovic decided to step down a year later and did not stand for election again in the 1932 election. She retired from politics, and later stated that the guilt from the event was a major reason for her retirement.
The operation was, however, an internal disaster for BRC-21. The vast majority of their planned attacks were thwarted, the Kresimirian state captured or killed a significant number of their trained operatives, and several of their operatives were captured and imprisoned. The failure forced the group to reconsider its ability to conduct large-scale, complex attacks outside of its home territory of Moraviskameja.
In the wake of the attack, Kresimirian state security protocols were permanently hardened. Invasive searches and a heavy military presence became standard practice for all future state events, a policy that continues to this day.