Bombing of Zadar in World War II The bombing of Zadar ( ) during the Second World War by the Allies lasted from November 1943 to October 1944 . Although other large cities in Italy were also bombed , the bombing of Zadar stands out because of the number of attacks and the number of fatalities . Reports vary greatly ; the Allies documented 30 bombing raids , while contemporary Italian accounts claim 54 . Fatalities recorded range from under 1 , 000 , up to as many as 4 , 000 of the city ' s 20 , 000 inhabitants . Over the course of the bombing , 60 % of the city ' s buildings were destroyed . Zadar has been called the " Dresden of the Adriatic " because of perceived similarities to the Allied bombing that city . In both cases , Allied bombs devastated a city rich in artistic and historical treasures but with no apparent industrial or military targets . It is the most significant historical event in Zadar after the Siege of Zadar in 1202 by forces of the Fourth Crusade . Background . Italian enclave of Zara . Zadar ( known in Italian as " Zara " ) became part of the Kingdom of Italy as a result of the Treaty of Rapallo of 1920 , which settled the status of former Austro - Hungarian territories . It had a large Italian majority and was an Italian enclave in Dalmatia . From the 1920s on , many more Croats were pressured to leave the city while their place was being taken by ethnic Italians resettling there from within Yugoslavian Dalmatia — such as the famous fashion stylist Ottavio Missoni , who moved with the family from Dubrovnik . The 1910 census in Austria - Hungary placed the Italians at 69 . 3 % of the population , which consistently rose in the decades that followed . Public functionaries , teachers , and policemen were transferred from the mainland . During this time , there was also a significant presence of military personnel . In June 1940 Italy declared war on Britain and France . Up until 1941 , the city was surrounded by Italian fortifications , of which the bunker behind Gaženice and in the area of Ploče and Crnog were the most notable . At the same time as preparing a defense from the sea , an attack was planned against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . Second World War until the capitulation of Italy ( 1941 – 1943 ) . The Axis powers attacked the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941 . On 17 April , the Yugoslavian government surrendered . Zara held a force of 9 , 000 commanded by General Emilio Gilioli that after bloody fighting on 15 April reached Šibenik and Split . Arriving in Dubrovnik and Mostar on 17 April , they met troops that had started out from Albania . It is known that on 8 April , the Yugoslavian air force bombed Zadar . Although this resulted in some damage , it cannot be compared to the bombing that the city would endure two years later . The civilians had been previously evacuated towards Ancona and Pula . The Treaty of Rome in 1941 between the newly formed fascist puppet Independent State of Croatia ( NDH ) and Italy handed over a large part of northern Dalmatia to Italy including the cities of Split and Knin . Italian capitulation . After Mussolini was removed from power , the new government of Pietro Badoglio declared an armistice , and on 8 September 1943 , the Italian army collapsed . The NDH took advantage of this chaotic situation by proclaiming the Treaty of Rome to be void and occupying Italian Dalmatia with German support . However , the Germans entered Zadar first , and on 10 September the German 114 Infantry Division took over . This stopped the Partisans ( the local Allied forces ) from temporarily liberating Zadar , as was the case with Split and Šibenik . The city was prevented from joining the NDH on the grounds that Zadar itself was not subject to the conditions of the Treaty of Rome , whether it was void or not . Despite this , the NDH ' s leader Ante Pavelić designated Zadar as the capital of the Sidraga - Ravni Kotari County , although its prefect was prevented from entering the city . Zadar remained under local Italian administration with German military protection , and in this unsure climate that the Allied bombing began . The bombing . The Allied command was lured into attacking Zadar / Zara by reports from Tito ' s partisans which exaggerated the German presence there . The first large Allied aerial attack on Zadar was carried out on 2 November 1943 by the USAAF 12th Air Force , during which an orphanage was destroyed , among other buildings . Larger attacks followed on 28 November in which 200 people were killed , and on 16 December and 30 December . These first attacks caused many civilian casualties , but the city continued to function despite the damage . The attack on the 16th was especially harsh , as the shelters at Voštarnica and at the city ' s centre were hit , killing between 150 and 200 people . Fifty American B - 25 medium bombers participated in the strikes , dropping 90 tonnes of bombs . Besides these main attacks , the city was bombed to a lesser degree on other days . Through the use of carpet bombing , entire neighborhood blocks were destroyed . The city centre was hardest hit , especially around the Forum and the Kalelarga street where no buildings were spared . As with other cases of urban bombings the damage was not caused by the initial explosions but the resulting fires , which turned the city into a pile of skeletons of burnt - out houses . Each attack targeted a specific part of the city . On the 16th , the area from the Church of Our Lady of Good Health to across the Kalelarga to the Piazza delle Erbe ( today ' s People ' s Square ) was targeted , while on the 30th the area from the " Riva Nova " waterfront to Giuseppe Verdi Theatre was attacked . On 31 December , the city hospital and the majority of the industrial machinery was destroyed . The Luxardo factory ( manufacturer of the Maraschino cherry liqueur ) was set on fire , and the building burned for three days . Attacks which completely ravaged Zadar followed from January to March 1944 . On 16 January 1944 , Liberator heavy bombers attacked Zara losing one bomber but claiming nine " Luftwaffe " fighters . However , the number of casualties was much less because the population rendered homeless escaped to the less damaged outskirts ( Arbanasi and Stanovi ) as well as Zadar ' s islands . It is estimated that in the spring of 1944 , there were fewer than 4 , 000 civilians left in the city . Even though the industrial plants and piers were crippled , bombing continued throughout of 1944 . Thus , the Germans were forced to establish a port in Zaton near Nin and Ražanac . By the summer , the center of Zadar had practically ceased to exist . The majority of houses were completely destroyed and their ruins buried the streets . The city was desolate . The period from June to the beginning of October was not marked by any large attacks , but they resumed in the middle of October as German forces abandoned the city . The worst attacks came on the 25th and 30th of that month when the areas of Arbanasi and Brodarica , Jazina , and the " Riva Nova " waterfront were hit . The last attacks came on the 31st on the same day that the forces of the Yugoslav Partisans entered Zadar . During the attacks , a number of Partisans were killed in the attack by accident . Several summary executions were performed by the Partisans . Among them , three of the four Luxardo brothers ( owners of the Maraschino factory ) were killed . Nicolò Luxardo , as was many others , was thrown alive into the sea with a stone tied to his neck in front of his wife , who was executed immediately afterward with a shot to the head . A number of citizens , mostly Italians , left the city some time later . Destruction and casualties . The greater part of the city ' s core was destroyed , including the entire Riva Nova with its 12 Austro - Hungarian palaces , its post office and neighborhood blocks around the Forum , the Kalelarga , the school near the Church of St . Chrysogonus , the churches of St . Mary , Our Lady of Health , and the baptistery of the Cathedral of St . Anastasia . Only the churches were restored . Many buildings which had burned were not rebuilt but demolished , with their stone reused in the rebuilding of the coastline and roads . A well - known example of this was the Giuseppe Verdi Theatre , which was only slightly damaged , but was plundered by Communist forces and destroyed . War and postwar damage occurred mostly in the western part of the peninsula , where the government offices and piers were located . The Varoš , was one of the areas where the prewar appearance was retained . Apart from the destruction caused by the Allies , the withdrawing Germans mined the Riva Nova slowing down postwar recovery as well as causing casualties . Exact numbers will likely never be known , as Zadar saw a significant population change . The percentage of Croatian citizens dramatically increased . The number of military personnel remaining in the city is undetermined . After the war , the number of casualties became a political question , especially within the community of Italians who had left the city for Italy . They placed the number at 3 , 000 - 4 , 000 deaths , claiming that a genocide had been carried out on them . Most sources place the count at 1 , 000 deaths , as a big part of the population escaped after the first attacks in fall and winter , 1943 . This small figure was the highest of any city in Italy .