The infamous directive number 25, by which German Chancellor Adolf Hitler ordered a joint attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Kingdom of Greece on March 28, 1941, is on display in the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade.
This document will be on display until February 18 on the occasion of the upcoming national holiday of Sretenje – the Day of Serbian Statehood. This document, the content of which marked the beginning of the Second World War on the entire territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the early morning hours of April 6, 1941, is comparable in its importance to the telegram declaring war on the Kingdom of Serbia from Austria-Hungary on July 28, 1914.
Among other things, this document contains an explicit order to carry out brutal airstrikes and round-the-clock bombardment of Belgrade, the readiness to hand over parts of its territory to Bulgaria and Hungary after the occupation of Yugoslavia, as well as the fact that “political promises to the Croats will intensify the internal political tension in Yugoslavia.”
The content of this directive resulted, among other things, in the creation of all the necessary preconditions for the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia, i.e. for the initiation of genocide against members of the Serbian people on its entire territory.
On this occasion, the director of the Museum of Genocide Victims, Dejan Ristić, and the director of the National Museum of Serbia, Bojana Borić Brešković, addressed the historical significance of the fact that Serbia has this document in its possession.
Based on the initiative sent by the Museum of Genocide Victims to the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić and his request, the Government of Serbia provided the necessary funds so that the document could be purchased on November 29, 2023. Directive number 25, signed by Hitler, was made in 13 originals, one of which is currently owned by Serbia, and this first-class historical source is now permanently stored in the Museum of Genocide Victims.
Issuing the order for the start of joint combat operations against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Kingdom of Greece, Hitler marked with this document the beginning of four years of dramatic battles and the immeasurable suffering of the civilian population, Srna news agency writes.
