The building was hit during the heavy „Easter bombing“ of Belgrade by the Allies on 16 April 1944. Germans defended it fiercely during the 1944 Belgrade Offensive against the Red Army and Yugoslav Partisan forces. In the evening of 19 October 1944, 22-years-old Partisan Mladen Petrović placed the Yugoslav flag with red star on the top of Palace Albanija. Petrović was wounded while bringing the flag to the top of the building, but recuperated enough to participate in Syrmian Front, where he was killed, together with his brother. Taking over the building opened the way for the Partisan army to the Belgrade Fortress and allowed the charge which liberated the wider area surrounding the Belgrade Main railway station, so just one day later the entire Belgrade was liberated.