PENALTY EXPEDITIONS OF THE WERMACHT IN THE VILLAGES OF ŽIČKI SREZ IN 1941

Abstract

Suppressing the uprising in Serbia in the fall of 1941, the German Wehrmacht applied harsh retaliatory measures. Kraljevo and its surroundings were also exposed to German reprisals, as one of the main scenes of fighting between the warring parties. While mass shootings of hostages were carried out in the town itself in the area of the Wagon Factory, units of the 749th and 737th Infantry Regiments of the 717th Crew Division conducted punitive expeditions through the villages of Kraljevo. The consequences of these expeditions were: the suffering of the civilian population, looted and burned households, destroyed crops and decimated livestock. According to the data established so far, 203 civilian victims of the actions of the German army in the villages of the Zice district have been recorded. Among those killed were 13 children, 33 women and 157 men, mostly elderly.