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World History
August Schmidhuber was an SS commander whose forces spread terror across Yugoslavia during World War II. After Nazi Germany invaded the Balkans in 1941, he rose through the Waffen-SS and led units infamous for mass killings, village burnings, deportations, and anti-partisan reprisals.
As an officer in the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen, Schmidhuber oversaw brutal operations in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro. Civilians were executed, families burned alive, and entire communities destroyed. Later, as commander of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg, his troops also took part in the deportation of Jews from Kosovo to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Captured after Germany’s collapse in 1945, Schmidhuber was tried by a Yugoslav military tribunal for war crimes. Found guilty of massacres and atrocities, he paid the highest price in Belgrade in 1947.
This documentary examines Nazi occupation, SS terror in the Balkans, and the justice that followed the war.

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“SS General Behind Balkan Atrocities in World War II: August Schmidhuber”


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#WWIIHistory #HistoryDocumentary #MilitaryHistory #BalkanHistory #HistoricalFacts

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Transcript
00:00In June 1941, August Schmidhuber was promoted to the rank of SS Obersturmbannführer, which was equivalent to Lieutenant-Colonel.
00:09A year later, he took command of a regiment within the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division, Prinz Eugen.
00:17This division, made up largely of ethnic German volunteers from the Balkans, became infamous for its ruthlessness.
00:24Under Schmidhuber's leadership, the unit carried out brutal anti-partisan operations that often resulted in mass killings of civilians.
00:34One of the most notorious atrocities under Schmidhuber's command occurred in October 1942, during Operation Kopaunik.
00:43The SS division targeted Serbian villagers, believed to be sheltering partisans.
00:48In the village of Krivareka, 120 civilians were locked inside a church and burnt alive.
00:56Across the wider Kopaunik and Mount Gotch regions, another 550 civilians were executed.
01:06Discover the full story on worldhistory.tv

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