Wars and Suffering

Events from the periods of war and the suffering of the Serbian people

63 articles

October 1941 - Šabac hostage executions, 3,500-5,000 Serbs shot by the Germans (reprisal for Partisan attacks)

October 1941 - The Germans shoot 3,500-5,000 Serbian hostages in Šabac and its surroundings (reprisal for Partisan attacks). The "rule of 100 for 1" was applied - for every German soldier killed, 100 Serbs were to be shot. Victims: civilians + prisoners from the Šabac camp. Duration: the whole of October (new executions every day). Execution sites: Zasavica, Jarak, Crna Bara. Bodies buried in mass graves. The Germans were NEVER held to account.

Read article

Šabac - "City of Hostages" (a symbol of the hostage system in WW2), 3,500-5,000 Serbs shot as hostages (October 1941)

Šabac - the "City of Hostages" (a name given after WW2). October 1941: 3,500-5,000 residents of Šabac shot as hostages (reprisal for Partisan attacks). The hostage system = a war crime (reprisals against civilians are prohibited). Every year (5 October) - Šabac commemorates the "Day of the City of Hostages". A symbol: Serbian resistance to the German occupation. Even today: the people of Šabac say "We are the city of hostages - we will never forget."

Read article

Šabac 1941 - The First Application of the "Rule of 100 for 1" in Occupied Serbia (4 October 1941, before Kraljevo and Kragujevac)

4 October 1941 - General Franz Böhme issues the order: "For every German soldier killed - shoot 100 Serbian hostages." This is the FIRST order of the "rule of 100 for 1" in occupied Serbia. 5 October: the FIRST execution under this rule (Šabac, Zasavica) - 200 Serbs. After Šabac: the same method was applied in Kraljevo (16-20 October) and Kragujevac (21 October). Šabac = an experiment that was later extended to the whole of Serbia.

Read article

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

The Šabac camp (September-December 1941) - a German camp for Serbian prisoners. 7,000+ Serbs imprisoned (soldiers, civilians). Conditions: hunger (100 g of bread a day), disease (typhus, dysentery), torture. October 1941: 2,000-3,000 prisoners taken away to be shot (Zasavica, Jarak). December 1941: the camp closed (the remaining prisoners deported to Germany). Only 20-30% survived the war.

Read article

Jasenovac Death Camp

Jasenovac — the largest death camp in the Independent State of Croatia, where the Ustaše systematically murdered Serbs, Jews, Roma, and anti-fascists.

Read article

Jadovno Camp

The first Ustaše death camp, established as early as June 1941, where over 40,000 Serbs, Jews, and Roma were killed.

Read article