Serbian site sheds light on Germans' postwar ordeal
SREMSKA MITROVICA, SERBIA -- When entrepreneur Mitar Tasovac purchased a long-abandoned factory intending to develop a housing complex on the site, he uncovered a chilling chapter of local history that had lain dormant for 60 years.
After World War II, the sprawling complex on the outskirts of this northern Serbian town served as a prison camp for local Germans, and about 2,000 people died there.
Before the Nazi invasion in 1941, about 520,000 members of the minority lived in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, mainly in today's Serbia and Croatia.
During the war, many joined the locally recruited 7th SS Volunteer Division Prinz Eugen, which murdered tens of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies.
After the war came revenge.
In just two years, about 300,000 ethnic Germans were herded by Yugoslav troops into dozens of internment camps before being deported. A similar number of ethnic Italians were expelled from Croatia and Slovenia.
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After World War II, the sprawling complex on the outskirts of this northern Serbian town served as a prison camp for local Germans, and about 2,000 people died there.
Before the Nazi invasion in 1941, about 520,000 members of the minority lived in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, mainly in today's Serbia and Croatia.
During the war, many joined the locally recruited 7th SS Volunteer Division Prinz Eugen, which murdered tens of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies.
After the war came revenge.
In just two years, about 300,000 ethnic Germans were herded by Yugoslav troops into dozens of internment camps before being deported. A similar number of ethnic Italians were expelled from Croatia and Slovenia.