page_title: Leskovac
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Leskovac / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Leskovac Memorial Park.
context_page_description: Leskovac is a city and the administrative center of the Jablanica District in southern Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the city urban area has 60,288 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 144,206.
context_section_description: During the World War II, the city was part of German-occupied Serbia. It was heavily bombed by the Allies in 1944, with estimates of civilian casualties varying from over a thousand to six thousand. The heaviest bombing occurred on September 6, 1944 when most of the central part of the town was destroyed. The date is marked annually in the city.
  Fitzroy Maclean the head of the British military mission to the Partisans wrote  ..... as we watched the whole of Leskovac seemed to rise bodily in the air in a tornado of dust and smoke and debris, and a great rending noise fell on our ears. ..... What was left of Leskovac lay enveloped in a pall of smoke; several buildings seemed to be burning fiercely. Even the Partisans seemed subdued. This was part of Operation Ratweek to attack the enemy withdrawal, and air reconnaissance had confirmed the presence of a strong concentration of armour and motor transport there, although he said the use of 50 ‘Heavies’ or Flying Fortresses did seem rather like taking a sledge-hammer to crack a walnut..
caption: WWII memorial park and “Goddess of Victory” statue
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