Smederevo Fortress explosion
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The Smederevo Fortress Explosion was a disaster that occurred in
Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...
, then in the
Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia The Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia (german: Gebiet des Militärbefehlshabers in Serbien; sr, Подручје Војног заповедника у Србији, Područje vojnog zapovednika u Srbiji) was the area of the Kin ...
(part of
Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...
under
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
occupation, now in modern
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
), on the 5 June 1941. Stockpiled ammunition and gasoline in
Smederevo Fortress The Smederevo Fortress ( sr, / ) is a medieval fortified city in Smederevo, Serbia, which was the temporary capital of Serbia in the Middle Ages. It was built between 1427 and 1430 on the order of Despot Đurađ Branković, the ruler of the Se ...
belonging to defeated
Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the land warfare military service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally Kingdom of Serbs ...
exploded due to unknown reasons. The number of casualties is also uncertain, estimates range from several hundreds to 2,500 killed.


Background

After the capitulation of the Yugoslavia in the
April War The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...
, the Germans designated Smederevo as a place where captured equipment, weapons, ammunition and gasoline of the former Royal Yugoslav Army would be stored. From there it would be transferred to Germany, which was preparing to attack the USSR. Smederevo was connected by railway and is located on the
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. The seized material was loaded by RYA prisoners.


Explosion

The day of the explosion was a market day and the inhabitants of the surrounding settlements came to the city to trade. School certificates were also being given to pupils that day. The explosion happened around 2:10 PM, at the time the train for
Velika Plana Velika Plana ( sr-Cyrl, Велика Плана, pronounced ) is a town and municipality located in the Podunavlje District of Serbia. As of 2011, the town has 16,088 inhabitants, while the municipality has 40,902. Velika Plana lies on the left b ...
was passing by the fortress which was transporting workers home. According to witness statements, shots were heard first (which could mean that ammunition was set on fire first), followed by a large explosion about two minutes later. The explosion created a crater 50 meters wide and 9 meters deep and destroyed most of Smederevo. Window glass was cracked in settlements around Smederevo, and the tremor was felt in Velika Plana,
Bela Crkva Bela Crkva ( sr-cyrl, Бела Црква, ; german: Weißkirchen; hu, Fehértemplom; ro, Biserica Albă) is a town and municipality located in the South Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a populatio ...
,
Vršac Vršac ( sr-cyr, Вршац, ; hu, Versec; ro, Vârșeț) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011, the city urban area had a pop ...
and
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
. Among the victims were
Milan Nedić Milan Nedić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Недић; 2 September 1878 – 4 February 1946) was a Yugoslav and Serbian army general and politician who served as the chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and minister of war in the R ...
's son, daughter-in-law and grandson. For the reconstruction of the city, the
Commissioner Government The Commissioner Government (, ''Komesarska vlada'') was a short-lived Serbian collaborationist puppet government established in the German-occupied territory of Serbia within the Axis-partitioned Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. It o ...
appointed
Dimitrije Ljotić Dimitrije Ljotić ( sr-cyr, Димитрије Љотић; 12 August 1891 – 23 April 1945) was a Serbian and Yugoslav fascist politician and ideologue who established the Yugoslav National Movement (Zbor) in 1935 and collaborated with Ge ...
, a lawyer from Smederevo and the president of
Zbor The Yugoslav National Movement ( sh, Jugoslavenski narodni pokret / Југословенски народни покрет), also known as the United Militant Labour Organization (''Združena borbena organizacija rada'' / ''Здружена бор ...
, as the Extraordinary Commissioner for the Reconstruction of Smederevo. He brought 120 young members of his movement to Smederevo and organised a plan for the reconstruction of the city with them. It has been speculated that the explosion was caused by a discarded cigarette butt from a German soldier, an English plane flying over Smederevo or a local patriot. Another theory is that Soviet agent
Mustafa Golubić Mustafa Golubić ( sr-Cyrl, Мустафа Голубић, ; 24 October 1889/24 January 1891 – July 1941) was a Serbian, and later Yugoslav, guerrilla fighter, revolutionary and intelligence agent. Following the outbreak of the Balkan Wa ...
, who was arrested two days later in Belgrade, was responsible for it. In 1973, a monument to the victims of the explosion was erected. The monument was sculpted by Selimir Jovanović, who had survived the explosion.


References


Sources

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External links


June 5th 1941 Explosion
{{coord missing, Serbia Serbia in World War II Smederevo Explosions in 1941 Explosions in Serbia Serbia under German occupation 1941 in Serbia 20th-century disasters in Serbia