The Smederevo Fortress Explosion was a disaster that occurred in

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, 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, ...

, then in the

Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia The Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia (; ) was the area of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that was placed under a military government of occupation by the Wehrmacht following the invasion, occupation and dismantling of Yugoslavia in ...

(part of

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

under

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

occupation, now in modern

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

), on the 5th of June 1941. Stockpiled ammunition and gasoline in

Smederevo Fortress The Smederevo Fortress () 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 Serbian De ...

belonging to the defeated

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the principal Army, ground force of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It existed from the establishment of ...

exploded for unknown reasons. The number of casualties is also uncertain. Estimates range from several hundred to 2,500 killed.

Background

After the capitulation of Yugoslavia in the April War, 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 ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. 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 2022, the town has 14,609 inhabitants, while the municipality has 35,451. 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,

Vršac Vršac ( sr-Cyrl, Вршац, ) is a city in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the city urban area had a population of 31,946, while the city administrative area had 45,462 inhabitants. It is located in the geographical ...

and

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. 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 ...

's son, daughter-in-law and grandson. For the reconstruction of the city, the Commissioner Government 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 N ...

, a lawyer from Smederevo and the president of

Zbor The Yugoslav National Movement (), also known as the United Militant Labour Organization (, or Zbor / ), was a Yugoslav fascist movement and organization led by politician Dimitrije Ljotić. Founded in 1935, it received considerable German financ ...

, 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, 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

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 Ammunition depot fires and explosions June 1941 in Europe