marija64
On June 5, 1941, the German occupation was not particularly felt in Smederevo, a city 45 kilometers from Belgrade. The people moved freely, traded and worked, and life was somehow going on. After the occupation, the Germans ordered Smederevo as a place where all the to store equipment, weapons, ammunition and petrol. There were about 400 ammunition wagons in the city! It was all in the fort that was next to the railway line, which was guarded by only six German guards because the occupier felt that no one was so crazy to try to ignite such an enormous amount of weapons in the city center.
<a data-snax-placeholder="Source" class="snax-figure-source" href="https://www.blic.rs/riznica/istorije/dan-kada-je-smederevo-sravnjeno-sa-zemljom/gvqtz1y" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.blic.rs/riznica/istorije/dan-kada-je-smederevo-sravnjeno-sa-zemljom/gvqtz1y</a>
On June 5, 1941, at 14:14, it happened just inconceivable! Shots were first heard, and then a large explosion. In just a few moments, Smederevo was completely destroyed. Those 400 ammunition wagons that were in the Fortress had a strength of 20 atomic bombs! The city was deleted. In all of Smederevo, only 21 houses remained undamaged! If there was not an old medieval fortress that received the worst blow, after the explosion there would be no Pozarevac, Kovin, Grocka, even parts of Belgrade! Over 2,500 people died, but this number was never accurately determined. Only 585 were identified. For a city that at that time had about 11,000 inhabitants, this meant that the explosion killed every fourth inhabitant.
<a data-snax-placeholder="Source" class="snax-figure-source" href="http://www.dnevno.rs/istorijski-zabavnik/zanimljivosti-iz-istorije/58382/srpska-hirosima-dan-kada-je-smederevska-tvrdava-spasila-srbiju-od-katastrofe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">http://www.dnevno.rs/istorijski-zabavnik/zanimljivosti-iz-istorije/58382/srpska-hirosima-dan-kada-je-smederevska-tvrdava-spasila-srbiju-od-katastrofe</a>
The cause of the explosion has never been clarified.Long afterwards, stories emerged that it was about communist sabotage. The notorious Soviet agent, Mustafa Golubic, arrived at that time from Moscow and was seen on June 4th in Belgrade, and there are evidence that he was in Smederevo on June 5th.Just two days later, he was arrested in the middle of Knez Mihailova Street in Belgrade. The date of his death is 11 June, that is, six days after the explosion in the Fortress.
<a data-snax-placeholder="Source" class="snax-figure-source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eksplozija_u_Smederevu_1941_04.jpg" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eksplozija_u_Smederevu_1941_04.jpg</a>
After June 5, there was a massive reconstruction of Smederevo. Ironically, the money for the construction was given by the Germans, and according to some data, even one million marks were invested. Smederevo thus became the only city in this area that was built during the Second World War.
I have not heard about this. Thanks for sharing. I learned something new. Great post!
Thank you very much for the comment.
Well done! Nice post!
Thank you very much for the comment Georgi.
I had not heard this story before. It is interesting to learn about the German rebuilding – presumably they used slave labour in the process.
Engineers and architects from serbia were involved in the reconstruction of the city … the works were carried out by volunteer labor.The city was spared the harassment of German punishment expeditions, which tens of thousands of people were killed in other cities of Serbia.