Nedić's Serbia

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Nedić's Serbia (Serbian Cyrillic: Недићева Србија, Latin: Nedićeva Srbija) is a popular name of the Serbian state under German occupation in WWII. The state was led by a collaborationist government of Milan Nedić, under German military command, and the official name of this government was Vlada Nacionalnog Spasa (Serbian Cyrillic: Влада Националног Спаса, English: Government of National Salvation), which existed between 1941 and 1944. Geographically it encompassed most of present-day Central Serbia (Serbian: Централна Србија), northern part of Kosovo (around Kosovska Mitrovica), and autonomous region of Banat, which was ruled by its ethnic German minority.

Contents 1 Geopolitical situation 2 The formation of the Government of National Salvation 3 Internal affairs 4 National security 5 Concentration camps 6 Politicians 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Geopolitical situation

After the quick defeat and carving up of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the territory of what is now known as Central Serbia (Centralna Srbija) fell under the direct control of the German forces. As they usually did in occupied territories, the Germans installed a collaborationist government, which was to be a partner in providing security and to implement laws and policies amenable to the Germans. Serbia was then surrounded by: the Independent State of Croatia in the west, Italian-occupied territories in the south, Hungarian-occupied territories in the north-west, and Bulgarian-occupied territories in the south-east. Banat was under the direct control of Germans, although it was formally part of Serbia.

[edit] The formation of the Government of National Salvation

German occupiers in Belgrade came to an idea that for stability of Serbia and German control would benefit from a puppet Serbian government under authority of German occupation forces. Hitler agreed, under conditions that he required.

The first suggestion was that the government be formed by Dimitrije Ljotić, but he refused and suggested general Milan Nedić. Nedić was reluctant to organize the puppet government, especially because family tragedy had struck him, saying also that he was too old, but eventually he was persuaded to take this ungrateful role, having the interests of Serbs, who lost a quarter of their population in the First World War in mind. He also had in mind the appalling genocide of Serbs that was underway in neighbouring Croatia, and need to take care of 600,000 Serbian refugees that were fleeing slaughter in the Croatian puppet state, as well as refugees from Slovenia that were granted hospitality in Serbia (which included Milan Kučan, who was a child at the time).^{[citation needed]}

He insisted to the German authorities that he would take this ungrateful role only under certain conditions, which he listed:

• That Serbian government be in charge of National Security, and Serbian state business be given some latitude, under control of German Military command.
• That Yugoslav army prisoners of war, who were taken to Germany after the April war, be freed, if they were sick or over 55
• That packages and help for the Yugoslav army prisoners of war in Germany should be allowed to be sent from Serbia on a regular basis, in order to improve their nutrition
• That those Yugoslav army prisoners of war that are necessary for the renewal of the country be freed, and the Nedic government would guarantee for them
• To take measures to stop killings and persecution of Serbs in Croatia, and also in territories under Bulgarian and Hungarian control.
• That the fight against communism would be mostly the internal matter of Serbia, and that German troops stay away from this whenever possible.
• That repressive measures should not target the innocent
• That national emblems of Serbia be allowed^{[citation needed]}

General Dankelman accepted all of these conditions, and the government was formed subsequently on the 1st of September 1941.

Nedić's main concern was salvation of Serbian populace, and also making sure that fighting stopped.^{[citation needed]} This, to a large extent, happened, as by the end of 1941, most of the fighting stopped in Serbia, though a civil war between communists and Chetniks ensued.

This article is part of the series on the History of Serbia

Medieval Serbia

Raška

Serbian Empire

Battle of Kosovo

Serbian Despotate

Ottoman Serbia

First Serbian Uprising

Second Serbian Uprising

Modern Serbia

Principality of Serbia

Kingdom of Serbia

Serbian Campaign (World War I)

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Nedić's Serbia

SFR Yugoslavia

FR Yugoslavia

Serbia and Montenegro

Republic of Serbia

[edit] Internal affairs

The internal affairs of the Serbian puppet state were moderated by German racial laws. These were introduced in all occupied territories with immediate effects on Jews and Roma people, as well as causing the imprisonment of left-oriented persons. The two major prisons in Serbia were Sajmište and Banjica. The government of Milan Nedić was supported by Dimitrije Ljotić with his ZBOR party. One of the major goals of the Milan Nedić was the neutralisation all resistance against the German occupation forces. This was made a big priority after the massacre in Kragujevac by Wehrmacht forces in a retribution killing (100 for each dead German soldier, and 50 for each wounded one). Nedić's forces fought partisans as well as Chetnik forces who were not willing to sign an agreement of cooperation. Under Nedić, Belgrade was declared to be Judenfrei in 1942. While the Republic of Užice was freed from the Germans by joint operations of Partisans and Chetniks in the fall of 1941, fighting against the Germans after 1941 was sporadic. Partisans and Chetniks in Serbia mostly engaged in civil war against each other, only occasionally attacking German forces and supplies.

[edit] National security

National security in WWII Serbia was organised around the army and police, as well as the use of German forces. The police and military forces in Nedić's Serbia were organised in the following manner:

• Military

• • Serbian State Guards
  • Serbian Volunteer Corps

• Police
  • Department of General police
  • Special Police (Serbian)
  • Serbian Gestapo

[edit] Concentration camps

• Banjica concentration camp (near Belgrade)
• Sajmište concentration camp (near Belgrade)
• Crveni krst concentration camp (Niš)
• Dulag 183 (Šabac)
• Svilara concentration camp (Pančevo)
• Paraćin

[edit] Politicians

• Milan Nedić
• Velibor Jonić
• Dimitrije Ljotić
• Dr. Milorad Nedeljković
• Dragomir-Dragi Jovanović
• Milan Aćimović
• Tanasije-Tasa Dinić
• Čedomir Marjanović
• Bogoljub Kujundžić
• Đura Dokić
• Ljubiša Mikić
• Dušan Letica
• Dušan Đorđević
• Boško Pavlović

[edit] See also

• Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
• Balkans Campaign
• Banat, 1941-1944
• History_of_Montenegro
• Hungary between the two world wars
• Military history of Albania during World War II
• Military history of Bulgaria during World War II
• People's Liberation War
• Quisling

[edit] References

• War in the Balkans - 5
• Serbian Quisling government
• Servians Hide Their Nazi Past