Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia

The Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia was the German-occupied administration of most of modern Serbia during the Second World War, established after the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 and dissolved when German forces withdrew in October 1944. It was the only part of occupied Yugoslavia where the Germans set up a military government rather than annexing the land or attaching it to a puppet state. A German military commander held supreme authority from Belgrade, supported by administrative staffs, police and a small garrison. Two Serbian puppet governments served the occupation: the short-lived Commissioner Government from May 1941 and, from August 1941, Milan Nedić's Government of National Salvation. The occupation regime exploited the region's mines and transport routes, fought Partisans and Chetniks with savage reprisals, and carried out the murder of nearly all Jews in the territory, including mass shootings and the use of gas vans. The Red Army, Bulgarian forces and Yugoslav Partisans entered Belgrade in October 1944, ending the territory. Belgrade was its administrative centre.