Dear Pajamas Media
I have to say that Mr.Stephen Schwartz is laying and twisting a history. He commits a hate crime against Serbian nation saying:
“But I digress. Serbs are indomitable fighters. They were tough and courageous when they sold out the Jews, making Belgrade the first officially “judenrein” city in Europe.”
His twist of history is obvious. Just take a look:
http://www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu/country/serbia/serbia1.htm
JEWISH HERITAGE EUROPE
An Online Resource Centre
SERBIA 1
Jewish Heritage in Serbia – General
[...]
When the new nation of Yugoslavia was created following the First World War, Serbian Jews found themselves in a federation of previously separate states, each with its own Jewish populations, organisations and customs. With their mixed heritage and prosperous communities, Serbian Jews took a leadership role in the state. Destruction of the Jews of this twenty-three year-old nation commenced with the German invasion and occupation of Serbia in April 1941. This period of persecution and murder had three phases: from late April to August 1941, when the German administration began a legal campaign restricting Jews’ freedoms; from August to December 1941, when the uprising of the Serbs against the Germans led to brutal crackdowns against all Serbs, including Jews, and many were imprisoned or murdered; and from December 1941 to May 1942, when the Germans decided to concentrate surviving Jews (between 7,500 and 8,000 people) in the Sajmište concentration camp. Here, from March to May of 1942, all Jewish inmates were killed, mostly using poison gas. In August, a German report stated that ‘the problem of Jews and Gypsies has been solved; Serbia is the only country where this problem no longer exists’. Belgrade was the first city in Europe officially declared Judenrein – that is, officially ‘free’ of Jews. A number of Yugoslav Jews who managed to evade the round-ups and camps subsequently distinguished themselves in the partisan struggle against the Nazis.
