|
Other attrocities were aimed a supressing the guerilla campaign that developed after the NAZI invasion. The Fascist occupiers, especially the NAZIs, instituted terrible reprisals on the civilian population for resistance attacks. The Wehrmacht sometimes killed up to 100 civilians for every Wehrmacht soldier killed. The targets included men, women, and children. A Serbiabn reader from Kragujeva tells us about an incident in her town where some German soldiers were killed and wounded by a resistance attack. The German commander applied the standard German formula: 1 wounded German solders = 50 Serbian people executed and 1 dead German Solder = 100 Serbian people executed. The Germans at Kragujevac rounded up about 5,000 people. A secondary school was also included in the reprisal. All the pupils were boys. The teachers stayed with their students even though the Germans had the quota. All were executed. Our reader tells us that her grandfather escaped this because he was sick and kept at home that day. Two cousins were teachers at the school and they were executed with their pupils. Many incidents kike this punctuated the terrible guerrila campaign in the Balkans. This was a factor in the unwilingness of the Chetniks to launch attacks on the Germans. It did not stop the Partisans. At the time of the NAZI invasion, opposition was concentrated in the cities where people were more politically concious. People in rural areas tended to be more apathetic. The viciousness of the NAZI reprisals tended to generate wide-spread opposition to the occupiers. The Partisans managed to achieve widespread support, despite the fact that relatively few Yugoslavs were Communists.
The NAZI conquest of Yugoslavia took inly a week with the lost of 100 men. What happened afterwards was anything but bloodless. A guerilla war began began between the NAZIs and Italians the two Yugoslavians partisan groups (Tito and Mihajlovic) and the Greek guerillas. This was a very complicated struggle. Croat national forces joined the Germans as did Muslims in Kosovo. Tito the communist was a Croat and Mihajlovic was a Serb. The ethnic disputes had begun before the War and with NAZI encouragement, Yugoslavia became a vast killing field. The Yugoslav and the Greek guerillas managed to tie down almost 1 million German soldiers. It proved to be a costly diversion for the Axis, causeldy largely by Mussolin's miscalculation. The Mihaljlovic partisans became known as the Chetniks. They gradually became reluctant to attack the NAZIs, in part because of the horendous reprisals and also hostility to Tito's partisans. Because of this reluctance, the Allies gradually lot faith in the Chetinks and began supporting Tito's partisans. Mihaljlovic's partisans saved over 500 American airmen in Operation Halyard and got them back safely to the Allies. The NAZIs were shooting 100 civilians for every German soldier killed.
The Fascist occupiers, especially the NAZIs, instituted terrible reprisals on the civilian population for resistance attacks. The NAZIs believed this would force the Yugoslavs to stop resisting the occupatioin. The Wehrmacht sometimes killed up to 100 civilians for every Wehrmacht soldier killed. The targets included men, women, and children. A Serbiabn reader from Kragujeva tells us about an incident in her town where some German soldiers were killed and wounded by a resistance attack. The German commander applied the standard German formula: 1 wounded German solders = 50 Serbian people executed and 1 dead German Solder = 100 Serbian people executed.
The Resistance and NAZI reprisals to Resistance attacks resulted in a series of grusome incidents throughout Yugoslavia.
Kragujevac was a small Serbian town occupied by the Germans. The Resistance attacks that led to the Kragujevac massacre were conducted by both Chetnik and Partisan forces. Tito in his auto-biography claims, however, that it was his forces alone that attacked the German detachment. The Chetnik leader seems to have been more restrained. He wanted to carry out acts of sabotage in a way that rwould not involve the civil population in German reprisals. Mihailovic's Chetniks captured a German platoon (October 15). The next day, a German solders stationed in Kragujevac were sent to rescue their captured colleagues (October 16). They were ambushed by both Mihailovic's and Tito's forces. In the resulting action 10 German soldiers were killed and 26 wounded. The Germans then began reprisal on Serbian civilians. The Germans executed 300 civilians were executed in three surrounding villages (October 19). This did not fulfill the quota so the Germans began rounding up Serbian people living in Kragujevac. Tghey went from house to house. All males between 16 and 60 were taken to district military headquarters for identification. Civil servants were rounded up from offices, and 300 students over 16 were taken from the boys' high school, along with 18 teachers. The roundup totaled of 10,000 civilians. The executions began the next day (October 20).
The Germans shot 100 men that first day. Many more were killed the following day (October 21). The official Wehrmacht report states that 2,300 men and boys were executed altogether. Among them was Laza Pantelic, The headmaster of the First Boys High School was Laza Pantelic. He saw 35 of his students being led away and when he found out they were to be executed he asked to be shot in their place. He was told that this was not possible. He joined his students and died with them. They are reported to have said
"We are Serbian children. Shoot." As far as I can determine all the 300 boys taken hostage from the high school were included in the executions. A HBC reader tells us that her grandfather escaped this because he was sick and kept at home that day. Two cousins were teachers at the school and they were executed with their pupils. The Wehrmacht report states that German soldiers faced exhaustion, and some soldiers were reported to have broken down from the mental and emotional strain of mass murder (October 29). The report also stated that no attacks on the Wehrmacht had occurred in Kragujevac itself, but the population were taken hostage and executed because not enough hostages could be found elsewhere. The massacres did not end with this incident there were other reprisals taken again Serbian civilians.
Many incidents kike this punctuated the terrible guerrila campaign in the Balkans.
This was a factor in the unwilingness of the Chetniks to launch attacks on the Germans. It did not stop the Partisans.
At the time of the NAZI invasion, opposition was concentrated in the cities where people were more politically concious. People in rural areas tended to be more apathetic. The viciousness of the NAZI reprisals tended to generate wide-spread opposition to the occupiers. The Partisans managed to achieve widespread support, despite the fact that relatively few Yugoslavs were Communists.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to Main NAZI attrocities page]
[Return to Main Balkans campaign page]
[Return to Main World War II campaign page--second phase]
[Return to Main World War II Yugoslav page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
