Operation Rübezahl
Operation Rübezahl I | |||||
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Part of World War II in Yugoslavia | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
Germany Montenegrin Volunteer Corps Free Arabian Legion Independent State of Croatia Bulgaria Sandžak Muslim militia |
Yugoslav Partisans 1st Corps 2nd Corps (2 divisions) 12th Corps |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||
Artur Phleps | Peko Dapčević | ||||
Strength | |||||
50,000 | 16,000 | ||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
unknown |
1,000 injured, unknown killed |
Operation Rübezahl was the name of 3 German anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia during World War II. The first operation announced the beginning of a strategic retreat by Nazi German troops from Serbia after the front change of Romania and Bulgaria.
Operation Rübezahl I
In summer 1944, German soldiers were doing sweeps against communist-led Yugoslav Partisans under the overall command of Josip Broz Tito. But on 30 August, after Romania and Bulgaria split from their Nazi ally, Germany entered into a crisis on the Balkan front. While the forces of the Partisans were moving to unite with the Soviet Red Army in the German-occupied territory of Serbia, German troops tried to avoid defeat in that strategic area by implementing "Operation Rübezahl" to enable the organised retreat of Germans. Among them there were:
- 1st Mountain Division
- 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
- 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
- 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
Between 20 and 22 August, German troops surrounded and destroyed a particularly large Partisan unit moving westwards from the Independent State of Croatia to occupied Serbia. Only a few Partisans survived thanks to Allied planes which managed to land on battered airstrips, air-lifting about a thousand injured to hospitals located in Italy.
Operation Rübezahl II
Operation Rübezahl II was a German offensive in February 1945 against Yugoslav partisans in the Slovene Littoral.
Operation Rübezahl III
Operation Rübezahl III was a German and Croat offensive in March 1945 against the Yugoslav 30th 'Slovenia' Division, who was threatening the important port city of Trieste.