| Original caption: “Execution of the young man Veselin Nikolić.” Nazi German Heer (“Army”) soldaten prepare Veselin Nikolić (Serbian: Veselina Nikolića – 1923 – August 18, 1941) for execution by rifle fire by tying him to a gallows on Kruševac’s Mount Baghdala (Serbian: Slobodište). High school student Nikolić was the 1st victim of Fascist terror in Kruševac. With 2 friends from the Savez Socijalističke Omladine Jugoslavije (SSOJ – “League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia”), Nikolić attempted to set fire to the gasoline station on August 17, 1941, to prevent Nazi German vehicles from refueling. The bomb failed; his friends escaped, but he was stopped and searched, and an unused bomb was found on his person. Nikolić was taken to Heer Headquarters in Kruševac and whipped and beaten; but he reportedly did not break. The next morning, the townspeople were gathered as a barefoot Nikolić was marched through the town to Mount Baghdala. It’s unclear why Nikolić was shot instead of hanged, but 4 soldaten shot him after he was tied up; multiple gallows were erected on Mount Baghdala. Nikolić appeared to show no fear as he was marched through the town and tied to the gallows. The entire procession was photographed by the Nazi Germans and distributed for propaganda purposes. After he was shot, his body slumped to the ground. Motion picture film of the execution was shot and recovered by the Soviet Red Army from a dead Nazi German soldaten in 1943. Nikolić’s body was hanged by the neck in the town square of Kruševac for 48 hours. His parents requested to take it down, and he was buried in the city cemetery. A memorial plaque to Nikolić was mounted near the Hotel Rubin and the street nearby was named after him. A special education elementary school was also named after him. Nikolić was the 1st of 1,642 people shot on Mount Baghdala from August 1941 to October 1944. Kruševac was liberated by the Narodnooslobodilačka vojska Jugoslavije (JUVO – “National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia”) and the Soviet Red Army, which drove out the Jugoslovenska vojska u otadžbini (“Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland”) – the royalist, London-based Chetniks – who had given an ultimatum to the Nazi German forces to leave Kruševac on October 15, 1944. JUVO liberated Kruševac the same day. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0836.jpg |
| Image Size | 181.20 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1375 x 919 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Kriegsbehricter |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 18, 1941 |
| Location | |
| City | Kruševac |
| State or Province | Kruševac |
| Country | Yugoslavia |
| Archive | Muzej Revolucije Naroda Jugoslavije |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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