70 Years Ago: Bloody Easter in Sky over Belgrade

That’s the Way it Started 70 Years Ago: Bloody Easter in Sky over Belgrade

Pyotr ISKENDEROV | 22.04.2014 | 00:00

Seventy years ago the people in Belgrade became victims of air strikes delivered by British-US aircraft. It happened as the holiday was marked on April 16, 1944. This day went down in history as Bloody Easter. Thousands died. Massive attacks continued till September 18, 1944. According to the allies, the operation was needed to disrupt the enemy’s transport routes leading to Greece, where heavy fighting was taking place at the time, and also to a large port on the Danube’s coast used for transporting oil to Germany from Romania. It was a terrible tragedy for Serbs who were fighting German forces. The date was not chosen at random, and the nature of destruction has a story to tell.  The US B-24 Liberator heavy bomber that carried 2-ton air bombs was the main striking force. On April 16, 600 Liberators took part in the operation. Air defense was combat ready in time, but people hit the streets to greet the allies who fought the same enemy as the Yugoslav guerillas. They heard it on the grapevine that the planes were flying to strike Romanian oil terminals, but the bombs fell on Belgrade instead.  Military-industrial installations and transport infrastructure were not the only targets. Here is a short list of areas hit on April 16-17, 1944: downtown Slavija and Terazije squares, Queen Nataliya, Knez Miloš, Nemani, Sarajevo, New Market, National Theatre, Zeleni Venac central streets, the Sajmište concentration camp also known as the camp in Zemun. Nazi kept captured National Liberation Army (Yugoslavia) fighters there. Around 150 people were killed inside the camp. Only one military target was hit – the local Gestapo HQ building. Totally about 1660 civilian city dwellers lost their lives when Belgrade was bombed on April 16, 1944 while the casualties among Germans were around 200.  It’s interesting to note that there were four aircraft crews manned by Serbs in the US squadron that delivered the strike, they were sent on leave at the time of operation being unaware of what mission was planned.  The bombings at the time of Greek Orthodox Easter evoked bitterness and indignation among Serbs. Then Greek Orthodox Church Patriarch Gavriil said their British-American coalition lost the feeling of Christian love. It would be proper to ask if UK-US politicians have ever known this feeling. Even guerilla forces and German troops stopped combat actions on the days of Easter and Christmas, but not the British and Americans. There was no need to do it as the events on combat field unfolded. Guerillas started to hold an upper hand at the time. In January-February 1944 they got through to Serbia, by April they fought Germans practically across the whole country. Why did the British-American forces start to regularly bomb Belgrade? Partially it is explained by the correlation of forces within the ranks of Liberation Army. By the beginning of 1944 the leadership had already defined the would-be structure of post-war Yugoslavia. In November, 1943, the Yugoslav Anti-Fascist Veche held in Jajce decided that it would hold the supreme power in Yugoslavia till the end of war. Its leadership included the members of Yugoslavia’s Communist party headed by Marshal Josip Broz Tito. National-liberation committees were to be the only legitimate organs of power in the country. The Yugoslav government in exile, which relied on London and Washington, was declared illegal. King Peter II Karađorđević was banned from entering the country.  Here is another important aspect to note. In December 1943 the USSR announced its support of Veche. In February 1944 a Soviet mission came to Yugoslavia.  In the spring of 1944 the United States and Great Britain did not treat Yugoslavia as an ally fighting against the same enemy - the fascist Germany, but rather as a would-be geopolitical adversary.  As the tradition goes, Serbia remembers in prayers those who died in April 1944 as well as those who lost lives in the even more horrible bombings of 1999. They all became victims of the West’s policy towards the Slav peoples of South-Eastern Europe. source: http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/04/22/that-way-it-started-70-years-ago-bloody-easter-sky-over-belgrade.html