The Sarajevo Operation was an operation by the

Yugoslav Partisan The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, Slovene language, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НО� ...

Army which led to the liberation of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

and

Central Bosnia Central Bosnia (, ) is a central subregion of Bosnia, which consists of a core mountainous area with several basins, valleys and mountains. It is bordered by Bosnian Krajina to the northwest, Tropolje (Livno area) to the west, Herzegovina to th ...

in March-April 1945.

The Battle

The

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 ...

defense plan for Yugoslavia of 22nd of February 1945 had named Sarajevo as a fortified city, which could only be abandoned by direct permission from

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. By 20th of March, the failure of

Operation Spring Awakening Operation Spring Awakening (german: Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen) was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton defensive operati ...

(the German offensive in Hungary) and the successful offensive of the Yugoslav 4th Army in

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by ...

(North-Western Croatia), made holding Sarajevo pointless. The retreat was ordered, with 3000 wounded German soldiers from the Sarajevo hospital going first. Interception of Yugoslav wireless communications had revealed to the Germans that the general attack was planned for 28th of March. In order to secure their retreat routes, the German Army carried out the ''Berggeist'', ''Maigewitter'' and ''Osterglocke'' Operations. On 28th of March 1945, the Yugoslav Army launched its attack. Under command of the Operational HQ for Liberation of Sarajevo were the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Corps of the Yugoslav army, supported by the 11th and 13th Krajina and 18th Central Bosnian Brigade, an Artillery Brigade and a Tank Company. The overall commander was the commander of the 2nd Corps

Radovan Vukanović Radovan ( sr-cyr, Радован) is a Slavic male given name, derived from the passive adjective ''radovati'' ("rejoice"), itself from root ''rad-'' meaning "care, joy". It is found in Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, M ...

. Sarajevo and its surrounding areas was defended by German and

NDH The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in pa ...

forces under command of the German 21st Mountain Corps. After heavy fighting, the city of Sarajevo was liberated on 6th of April. During the pursuit of the enemy, Yugoslav units liberated

Visoko Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 livi ...

Kakanj Kakanj ( sr-cyrl, Какањ) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 11,796 inhabitants, with 38,937 inh ...

and on 10th of April

Busovača Busovača () is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located from Sarajevo, from Zenica, and from Travnik. History During the Croat� ...

, which concluded the Sarajevo operation.

Order of battle

Axis

XXI Mountain Corps The XXI Mountain Corps was a German military formation in World War II. At the beginning of November 1944 the XXI Mountain Corps retreated from Albania to Podgorica in Montenegro. In mid-November they tried to break through Danilovgrad and Ni ...

(Ernst von Leyser) **

7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen" (), initially named the SS-Volunteer Division ''Prinz Eugen'' (''SS-Freiwilligen-Division "Prinz Eugen"''), was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS, an armed branch of the German Na ...

369th (Croatian) Infantry Division The 369th (Croatian) Infantry Division (german: 369. (Kroatische) Infanterie-Division, hr, 369. (hrvatska) pješačka divizija) was a legionary division of the German Army (Wehrmacht) during World War II. It was formed with Croat volunteers fro ...

** 181st Infantry Division ** 9th Mountain Ustashe Home Guard Division (5 brigades) ** Chetniks Flag

Romanija Romanija ( sr-cyrl, Романија) is a mountain, karst plateau, and geographical region in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, including numerous villages and towns, such as Pale, Sokolac, Rogatica and Han Pijesak. Its highest point is Velik ...

Zenica Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The city is kno ...

and

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geograp ...

Chetnik Corps.

Partisans

* 2nd Corps (Radovan Vukanović) ** 3rd Division ** 29th Division ** 37th Division * 3rd Corps (Pero Kosorić) ** 27th Division ** 38th Division * 5th Corps (

Slavko Rodić Slavko Rodić ( sr, Славко Родић; Sredice near Ključ, 7 July 1914 - Belgrade, 29 April 1949), was a Yugoslav partisan, general of Yugoslav People's Army and People's Hero of Yugoslavia. Prior to April War, Rodić worked as surv ...

) ** 4th Division ** 10th Division **Zenica Combat Group

Sources

Sarajevo Operation
{{Wars and battles involving Serbs Conflicts in 1945 1945 in Yugoslavia Battles of World War II involving Chetniks Battles involving the Yugoslav Partisans Battles of World War II involving Germany Battles involving the Independent State of Croatia March 1945 events April 1945 events

The Battle

Order of battle

Axis

Partisans

See also

Sources