# Holocaust in occupied Serbia (December 1941 – May 1942)

URL: https://allhistories.com/serbia/timeline/1941-holocaust-in-occupied-serbia
Themes: Key Events

In autumn 1941 most Jewish men in German-occupied Serbia, held at camps such as Topovske Šupe, were shot by Wehrmacht units in reprisal executions. In December 1941 Jewish women, children and elderly people, along with Roma, were interned at the Sajmište (Semlin) camp on the old Belgrade fairground. Between March and May 1942 around 6,000–7,000 Jewish prisoners were murdered in a gas van that drove them from the camp to Jajinci. In August 1942 Harald Turner, head of the German military administration, reported that Serbia was the only country in which the Jewish question had been solved. Serbia became one of the first territories in Europe declared "judenfrei"; most of its Jewish community was destroyed.

## Why it matters
Occupied Serbia was among the first places where the Nazis claimed to have exterminated the Jews.

Ruler at the Time: [Peter II](https://allhistories.com/serbia/rulers/peter-ii)

Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (in exile): Dušan Simović (Independent / Non-party)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — The Holocaust in German-occupied Serbia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_German-occupied_Serbia)
- [Wikipedia — Sajmište concentration camp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sajmište_concentration_camp)
- [Wikipedia — Harald Turner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Turner)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Holocaust in occupied Serbia](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Holocaust+in+occupied+Serbia)
- [Wikipedia — World War II in Yugoslavia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_in_Yugoslavia)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of Serbian history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Serbian_history)