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As a group of Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft flew over Belgrade on April 13,
1941, Captain Fritz Klingenberg pointed at the skies and then back at his watch.
Time was ticking.
Should the Yugoslav Mayor not surrender his city, Klingenberg would call upon a rampant
air attack and artillery barrage, sparing none of the capital's 200,000 citizens.
But the Mayor obliged.
However, he did not know that he had just been
duped by one of the sneakiest and most conniving men of the Schutzstaffel.
On that day, Captain Klingenberg, with only six men and a whole lot of guts,
captured a critical city in the Balkans, defeating thousands without a single gunshot.
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Yugoslavia
In early 1941, the German Wehrmacht was stalled in the West, and Nazi top brass
was putting the final touches on Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Simultaneously, the Führer was conspiring to conquer
North Africa and realize his dream of a Teutonic empire in the Middle East.
To succeed in all these endeavors, the Nazis depended on the nations of the Balkans,
a geographic area in Southeast Europe that connected the continent with Africa.
Thus, Hitler began to personally woo and lightly threaten Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.
Then, on March 24, 1941, Prince Paul of Yugoslavia agreed to sign the Axis Tripartite Pact,
officially becoming allies of the Third Reich.
Back in London, Prime Minister Winston Churchill fumed with anger,
as the Prince Regent had previously assured him that his country would remain neutral.
Consequently, British agents stationed in the country's capital of Belgrade
convinced the Anti-Nazi Yugoslavian army into launching a rebellion against the Germans.
On March 26, military officers and anti-fascism troops seized government buildings,
radio and telephone exchanges, police headquarters, air bases,
aircraft, and armament, swiftly toppling the already weak Yugoslav government.
After storming into an empty palace, Prince Paul was captured as he attempted to escape by train.
The monarch was forced to abdicate and retreat to exile in Greece,
leaving 18-year old King Peter as a puppet monarch.
When the day ended, the coup d'etat had been accomplished
without civilian or military bloodshed.
However, the new administration announced that Yugoslavia would remain faithful to
the Tripartite Pact after realizing that although the Allies had been supportive,
they knew they were in no position to assist them against a full-force German attack.
Change of Plans
When Hitler heard of the coup, he became enraged. He ordered his generals to destroy
Yugoslavia as brutally as possible, both militarily and as a national unit.
By the beginning of April, the neighboring country of Bulgaria was already occupied by the Germans,
and many troops passed through the nation on their way to invade Albania,
Greece, and all of Africa to the south.
For the Germans to secure their left flank and clear the supply routes necessary for
further subjugation, Yugoslavia needed to be conquered as fast as possible.
Thus, the 1st SS Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and 2nd SS Das Reich divisions were ordered to
thrust through Serbia, reach Belgrade, and weaken the city through a two-week planned bombardment
followed by massive armored and artillery attacks.
To carry out this strategy, the Germans intended to employ tens of thousands of
their men to occupy the city after the capture.
However, although Belgrade did suffer through days of artillery and aerial attacks that weakened it,
the city ultimately surrendered much earlier than the high command expected.
And this was achieved by only a handful of men led by a captain who was not afraid to
defy his own superiors and seize an opportunity when he deemed fit.
The Magician
The attack on Belgrade was carried out by none other than Waffen SS Captain Fritz Klingenberg,
a 26-year-old who had a reputation as a headstrong and abrasive man.
In 1940, his former company commander referred to Klingenberg as a: [QUOTE]
"Intelligent yet headstrong, loyal yet not above correcting his superiors,
brilliant under pressure, yet arrogant to the point of insubordination."
Klingenberg was part of the elite troops of the 2nd Waffen SS Panzer Division Das Reich. During
the Battle of France in 1940, his heroism and courage earned him the Iron Cross Second Class.
The officer also had a habit of going through several near-death experiences. On one occasion,
he took out several three-man French positions with grenades by himself without any injuries.
During another engagement, he called upon a team of Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers
down on his own position to stop the Allies from retreating, which resulted in the capture
of over 50 prisoners of war. The action earned the upstart Captain the Iron Cross First Class.
Because Klingenberg always emerged unscathed, his men nicknamed him ‘The Magician.’
The officer also gained the reputation of a first-rate scrounger.
He always managed to provide what his men needed, primarily by stealing.
After arriving in Yugoslavia, Fritz Klingenberg was promoted to Captain and commander of a
unit responsible for rapid intelligence gathering and communication maintenance.
Taking after their Captain, the men from the unit had the division's record
for most complaints and theft reports. They were referred to as Klingenberg's criminals.
But the Magician had taught them well, and no allegations against his men were ever confirmed.
Disobeying Orders
Klingenberg's mission in Yugoslavia was to reconnoiter the area ahead
of the central armored unit, scouting for enemy activity and opening roads on maps.
However, Klingenberg had other plans.
Instead, he decided to inspect Belgrade. After his team found an abandoned motorboat tied to a tree,
the Captain, one sergeant, and five privates attempted to cross the Danube to the capital.
The trip proved to be extremely treacherous, with raging currents from melting snow and
torrential rain. Their overloaded boat barely reached the other side of the river.
When Klingenberg sent two of his men on a return trip for more troops,
the boat finally gave in, and the vessel sank before they reached the other side.
Klingenberg was now left with only six men, low ammunition, and limited supplies.
As the group advanced on foot, they encountered Yugoslavian troops. But
the SS unit captured two of their trucks and one bus, along with 20 enemy soldiers.
One of the men in the vehicle was an inebriated German tourist
who had gotten stuck in Belgrade when the Yugoslavian invasion began.
Taking advantage of this strange occurrence,
Klingenberg decided to use the tourist as an interpreter, and the German happily obliged.
The SS men, prisoners, and the tourist advanced
towards Belgrade using their captive's uniform to get past enemy checkpoints.
Not long after, the Germans drove their captured vehicles into Belgrade,
and they were soon surrounded by a wide-eyed and bewildered population.
Then, after parking, Klingenberg ordered his men to raise a German flag.
Ruse
Under their Captain's orders, the SS men confidently strutted around the capital,
signaling the Belgrade locals that they were now in charge.
Soon after their arrival, the city’s Mayor and several city officials came up to them.
Assuredly, Klingenberg told the politician that his unit was the leading team amongst several SS
tank divisions nearby. Should he not follow his orders, he would order a Luftwaffe air attack,
artillery barrage, armored and infantry attacks, and spare no one.
The SS men looked at their Captain in shock. Their radios were damaged,
their armored unit was far away, and they ran critically low on ammunition
and food. Out of all of Klingenberg's antics, this charade was the most unexpected.
Just then, as if on cue, a group of German reconnaissance aircraft flew over the city.
The cheeky Captain pointed at the skies and then at his clock,
reminding the Mayor that time was ticking.
The Belgradian politician then fell for the ruse. After a long conversation with the SS Captain,
the duo began arrangements for Belgrade's official surrender. Klingenberg gave him
his word that they wouldn't hurt the local population if all instructions were followed.
On April 13, Belgrade surrendered to a handful of Germans without firing a single shot.
That same day, Klingenberg's men on the other side of the Danube arrived in the city,
saw their flag, and were amazed to find the team they believed lost fraternizing with the locals.
Disbelief
German Intelligence had projected Yugoslavian army casualties in the
tens of thousands upon the surrender of Belgrade.
When the German High Command heard about Klingenberg's feat, they didn’t believe the story
at first. Lieutenant General Paul Hausser was even ordered to travel to Yugoslavia to investigate.
Upon arrival, Hausser found a staggeringly drunk Klingenberg.
When he asked the Captain to explain why he had not followed the Führer's direct orders,
the unshaven and foul-breathed officer replied: [QUOTE] "What was I to do, give the city back?"
In the end, the mission was accomplished and the advance into Greece was ahead of schedule;
that was all that mattered.
Yugoslavia would ultimately surrender a few days later.
Standartenführer
During Belgrade’s takeover, Klingenberg had shown concern not only for the welfare of
his motorcycle reconnaissance unit but also for the fate of the Yugoslavian civilians.
He and his men stayed at the most luxurious hotels and were treated exceptionally well by
the civilians, who knew they could have suffered a much more unfortunate fate.
Ultimately, every man that served during the Belgrade
occupation earned promotions and decorations for valor.
Klingenberg received the Knight's Cross, the Nazi equivalent of a Medal of Honor,
for his spirited performance and leadership.
During Operation Barbarossa, the Captain continued to prove himself to the Nazi cause.
And in 1943, Klingenberg's Knight's Cross earned a further distinction:
additional Oak leaves given only to a handful of men who continued to show merit in combat bravery.
Then, on December 21, 1944, Fritz Klingenberg, now a personal favorite of Commander Hausser,
was promoted to SS-Standartenführer. And two weeks later, he was appointed to command the
SS Division Götz von Berlichingen, defending Germany against the United States Army.
However, on March 23,1945, Klingenberg was hit by a tank shell during a firefight
and succumbed to his injuries.
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