The Brutality Execution of Serbs in Pancevo on April 20, 1941 in the afternoon, when 35 men and one woman were nabbed.

The Brutality Execution of Serbs in Pancevo on April 20, 1941 in the afternoon, when 35 men and one woman were nabbed.

 

Suspension of civilians in Pančevo, April 20, 1941.

Gerhard Gronefeld (1911-2000), a German military photographer, recorded the executions of Serbs in Pancevo on April 20, 1941 in the afternoon, when 35 men and one woman were nabbed from the streets, divided into two groups.

The first one was taken immediately near the entrance to the cemetery where improvised hangers were made, and the second group was arranged in front of the cemetery wall.

 This massacre was ordered by Oberstlootnant Commander Fritz Bandelonj as retaliation for two German soldiers killed in the battle with the remains of the Yugoslav army, three days after the Yugoslav Army capitulated.

Gronefeld, who recorded many striking moments of war, after the war devoted himself to photographing birds and animals in nature, announcing his album of war photos before his death, put a photo of the hanging of Serbs in Pancevo in the first place, saying: "This is a photo that is on me left the most horrible impression until the end of my life. I watched the eyes of these innocent people who were sentenced to death, and this view keeps me still today, as the most terrible nightmare. 

"It is interesting that these photographs were out of sight for a long time, and that Gronefeld had published them on the occasion of an international gathering Evidence of the participation of Vermaht soldiers in mass crimes during the war, as it has long been said that the execution of civilians and other mass crimes in Europe was made up of only SS units. The capture of Serbs across the streets carried out the Vermahta regiment - the division "Gross Deutschland" whose soldiers shot the Serbs near the cemetery wall.

However, the hanging was voluntarily executed by a Folksdogger, a butcher's assistant, who wrote this "creepy job" by Gronefeld, "done with great brutality and obvious satisfaction," which can be seen in the

This crime was also documented by a film camera - a color film, which was filmed by German military cameraman Gottfried Kessel from whom we publish several photos, and we hope that we will soon be able to acquire and mentioned the three-minute

The film is, among other things, shown on September 13, 2010 at the History Channel in Canada.