The Fall of Yugoslavia


At the beginning of 1941 nothing apparently was changed in our daily sche-
dules.  I studied, preparing for my first examination; Serbo-Croat literature
and Italian, required for the Foreign Language group to which I registered; my
main subject was English, second French.  Mirica was in her last year at high
school and Fritz worked with my father.  The politicians in Yugoslavia had a
harder time.  They tried to keep Yugoslavia's neutrality, a task that became
more difficult from day to day and almost impossible with Hitler's obvious
victories.  Wavering between two possibilities, either to bow before Hitler or
to resist him, relying upon Western powers, Yugoslavia chose to sign a secret
agreement with Hitler on 24 March.  This fact became known and the
opposing powers organized, three days later (27 March), a putsch in Belgrade,
that was actually a revolutionary stroke carefully planned and prepared long
before that time.  Under the pressure of these rioting masses the government
was forced to revoke that pact.

     Their action let loose an outburst of popular enthusiasm which
     may well have surprised its authors.  The streets of Belgrade
     were soon thronged with Serbs, chanting 'Rather war than
     pact; rather death than slavery.' There was dancing in the
     squares; English and French flags appeared everywhere; the
     Serb national anthem was sung with wild defiance by valiant,
     helpless multitudes.18
     
The whole nation shared this enthusiasm.  That evening my parents happened
to be in Belgrade to accompany their best friends who left for Palestine.  They
returned convinced more than ever before that Yugoslavia was an exception
among the neighbouring nations who had betrayed the just cause and accepted
Hitler's terms.  We admired the 'courage' of this small nation without thinking
of the consequences.  The triumphal hymn turned into a requiem.
         Hitler became infuriated and decided to destroy Yugoslavia.  He carried
out his plan with unmerciful harshness.  Churchill's description agrees so well
with the accounts that were delivered to us by survivors that I quote it:

     On the morning of April 6 German bombers appeared over
     Belgrade.  Flying in relays from occupied air fields in Romania,
     they delivered a methodical attack lasting three days upon the
     Yugoslav capital.  From roof-top height,  without fear of
     resistance, they blasted the city without mercy.  This was called
     Operation "Punishment".  When silence came at last on Aprit
     8, over seventeen thousands citizens of Belgrade lay dead in
     the streets or under debris.  Out of the nightmare of smoke and
     fire came the maddened animals released from their shattered
     cages in zoological gardens.  A stricken stork hobbled past the
     main hotel, which was a mass of flames.  A bear, dazed and
     uncomprehending, shuffled through the inferno with slow and
     awkward gait down towards the Danube.  He was not the only
     bear who did not understand.19
     
Simultaneously with the ferocious bombardment of Belgrade, German troops
invaded Yugoslavia in the early morning of 6 April; They marched from
several directions.  The Yugoslav Army tried to resists but in vain:

     The four Yugoslav Army Corps in the north were rapidly and
     irresistibly bent inwards by the German armoured columns,
     supported by Hungarian troops which crossed the Danube, and
     by German and Italian forces advancing towards Zagreb.  The
     main Yugoslav forces were thus driven in confusion southwards,
     and on April 13 German troops entered Belgrade.  Meanwhile
     General Lists' Twelfth German Army, assembled in Bulgaria, had
     swung into Serbia and Macedonia.20
     

Table of Contents
The Darkest Hours of My Life