80 years ago, on this day, the Kraljevo massacre ended. Some 1,800 mostly Serbian civilians were shot between October 15th and 20th 1941
80 years ago, on this day, the Kraljevo massacre ended. Some 1,800 mostly Serbian civilians were shot between October 15th and 20th 1941
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The massacre came in reprisal for an attack on a German garrison in which 10 German soldiers were killed and 14 wounded. The number of hostages to be shot was calculated based on a ratio of 100 hostages executed for every German soldier killed and 50 hostages executed for every German soldier wounded.
According to the 717th Infantry Division’s own records, 1,736 men and 19 “communist” women from the city and its outskirts were executed. Twenty members of the 717th Infantry Division were later conferred Iron Crosses for their role in the killings.
Most of those killed were ethnic Serbs, though 80 Roma were also among the victims, as were some Jews, and several dozen Slovene refugees.
Like the massacre at Kragujevac, which I intend to make a separate post about tomorrow, on its own anniversary, the Kraljevo massacre came to symbolize the brutality of the German occupation in Serbian and Yugoslav popular memory.
wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraljevo_massacre
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Where are the “clean Wehrmacht” people at to explain this? After all, according to them it was just the SS that did dirty deeds, and the Wehrmacht were the totally honorable German soldiers… Well, given Germany’s conduct against the Belgian population in WW1, yeah, it does seem like the norm of German military honor of the time.
Seriously, Germany got off too well after WW2.
You look at what the Nazis did and you wonder why so many of them think merely being in the army at that time did not warrant war crime charges… Because this is what the soldiers did.
This event, alongside with [Kragujevac shootings](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kragujevac_massacre) and [Pančevo hangings](https://www.google.com/amp/s/kevinbrownhistorian.wordpress.com/2020/02/27/du-strick-du-kugel-you-take-the-bullet-you-hang-pancevo-1941/amp/) served as proofs of debunking “clean Wermacht” myth in 80s and 90s.
So when are we going to talk about the “clean partisan” myth as well?
People love pointing out Whermacht crimes on this sub while basically nobody talks about partisan warfare and its very dark side as well.
Most partisans would be seen as war criminals as well, ESPECIALLY when talking about the balkans….
But I can already see the first “nazi, nazi apologist, wehraboo, etc.” commetns comming in…
People love to point fingers but when its their own family members on the choping block its suddenly “freedom figher, because X was evil as well, etc.”.
Actually over 2x more Slavic people were killed by Germans in WW2 than Jews, but they are never in school books or any WW2 talk,its only genocide of Jews.
Yet most serbs deny Srebrenica.