The Šabac Camp 1941 - 7,000+ Serbian prisoners, appalling conditions (hunger, disease), 2,000-3,000 taken away to be shot

The Šabac Camp 1941

The Šabac camp - a German camp for Serbian prisoners (September-December 1941).

Location: Šabac, western Serbia (an old barracks converted into a camp).

Duration: September-December 1941 (4 months).

Prisoners: 7,000+ Serbs (soldiers from the April war + civilians accused of "collaboration with the Partisans").

The result:

• 2,000-3,000 prisoners taken away to be shot (October 1941)
• 500-1,000 prisoners died in the camp (hunger, disease)
• 4,000-4,500 prisoners deported to Germany (December 1941)
• Only 20-30% survived the war

🏚️ How the camp came into being - September 1941

April 1941 - The Germans attack Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav army capitulates (17 April).

May-August 1941 - The Germans arrest Serbian soldiers:

• Soldiers from the April war (who had not escaped)
• Reservists (called up for the army, but captured before they reached the front)
• In total: ~5,000 Serbian soldiers captured

September 1941 - The Germans arrest civilians:

• Serbs accused of "collaboration with the Partisans"
• Intellectuals (professors, lawyers, priests)
• In total: ~2,000 civilians arrested

10 September 1941 - The Germans open the camp in Šabac:

• An old barracks converted into a camp
• 7,000+ prisoners imprisoned (soldiers + civilians)
• The camp under the command of the German army (Wehrmacht)

📊 The prisoners in the camp - who was detained?

Age: 16-65 years (the youngest: 16 years old, the oldest: 65 years old).

💀 Conditions in the camp - hunger, disease, torture

Hunger:

• The prisoners receive 100 g of bread a day (this is ALL the food)
• No water (the prisoners drink water from puddles - full of bacteria)
• Result: Many die of starvation (50-100 a day)

Disease:

• Typhus (an epidemic in the camp - 500+ infected)
• Dysentery (diarrhoea - prisoners lose 10-15 kg in a month)
• Tuberculosis
• No doctors, no medicines
• Result: 500-1,000 prisoners died of disease

Torture:

• The Germans search the prisoners every day
• They beat them (with fists, kicks, rifle butts)
• The reason: "to break the Serbian spirit"

A prisoner's testimony (Petar Nikolić, survivor):

"September-October 1941 - I was in the Šabac camp. The conditions were appalling. Every day - 100 g of bread. That is ALL. No water. We drank from puddles (full of worms). Every day - 50-100 people die. Of hunger. Of disease. The bodies are left in a corner (no one buries them). The smell of death everywhere. The Germans come every day - they beat us. They ask: 'Where are the Partisans?' I have no idea - but they beat me. October - every day the Germans pick out 200-300 people. They take them away. They never come back. We knew - taken away to be shot. Every day - I waited to see whether they would pick me. December - the Germans close the camp. They took us to Germany (a labour camp). I survived. But I lost 100+ comrades - died in the camp or shot."

- Petar Nikolić, surviving prisoner

🔫 October 1941 - prisoners taken away to be shot

4 October 1941 - General Böhme orders the "rule of 100 for 1".

5 October 1941 - the FIRST execution (Zasavica):

• The Germans enter the Šabac camp
• They select 200 prisoners (at random - they do not ask for names, they simply point)
• They take them by lorry to Zasavica (10 km)
• They shoot them - the bodies are buried in mass graves

6-31 October 1941 - new executions every day:

• Every day: 200-300 prisoners taken from the camp
• They never come back
• In total: 2,000-3,000 prisoners shot during October

Fear in the camp:

• Every day the prisoners wait - will they be chosen?
• The Germans choose at random (it does not matter whether you are a soldier or a civilian)
• There are no rules - only "200 people are needed today"

🚂 December 1941 - the camp closed, deportation to Germany

December 1941 - The Germans close the Šabac camp:

• The reason: the camp had become too expensive (food, guards)
• The decision: to deport the remaining prisoners to Germany (labour camps)

15 December 1941 - the deportation:

• The remaining prisoners (4,000-4,500) taken to the railway station
• Loaded into cattle wagons (100 people per wagon)
• Transported to Germany (labour camps: Mauthausen, Dachau, Buchenwald)

The result of the deportation:

• 4,000-4,500 prisoners deported
• Only 20-30% survived the war (800-1,350 people)
• The rest died in the German camps (hunger, disease, labour)

📊 The balance sheet of the Šabac camp (September-December 1941)

Conclusion: 80-90% of the prisoners from the Šabac camp died (shot, died of hunger/disease, or died in the German camps).

🇷🇸 The Serbian perspective - the Šabac camp forgotten

For the Serbian people, the Šabac camp = the forgotten camp:

• 7,000+ Serbs imprisoned (September-December 1941)
• Appalling conditions: hunger (100 g of bread a day), disease (typhus, dysentery), torture
• 2,000-3,000 shot (October 1941) - taken from the camp to Zasavica, Jarak
• 500-1,000 died in the camp (hunger, disease)
• 4,000-4,500 deported to Germany (December 1941)
• Only 20-30% survived the war
• But: The Šabac camp is less well known (it is not in the textbooks)
• We will not forget

"The Šabac camp (September-December 1941) - a German camp for Serbian prisoners. 7,000+ Serbs imprisoned (soldiers + civilians). Appalling conditions: 100 g of bread a day, disease (typhus, dysentery), torture. October 1941: 2,000-3,000 prisoners taken away to be shot (every day 200-300 people - they never came back). 500-1,000 died in the camp (hunger, disease). December 1941: the camp closed, 4,000-4,500 deported to Germany. Only 20-30% survived the war. In total: 5,650-6,700 died (80-90%). The Šabac camp = the forgotten camp. But we WILL NOT forget. WE WILL NEVER FORGET."