Topovske Šupe concentration camp The Topovske Šupe concentration camp ( ; ) was a concentration camp located on the outskirts of Belgrade which was operated by Nazi Germany with the help of Milan Nedić ' s quisling government during World War II . Located on the site of an old military base , the camp held approximately 5 , 000 to 6 , 000 inmates from its establishment on 20 August 1941 until its closure in December of that year . About 4 , 300 inmates were killed during its operation , of whom 3 , 000 were killed as hostages and 1 , 300 were killed as suspected anti - fascists . Background . On 6 April 1941 , Axis forces invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . Poorly equipped and poorly trained , the Royal Yugoslav Army was quickly defeated . The country was then occupied and dismembered , with the Wehrmacht establishing the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia under a government of military occupation . The territory included most of Serbia proper , with the addition of the northern part of Kosovo ( centred around Kosovska Mitrovica ) , and the Banat . It was the only area of partitioned Yugoslavia in which the German occupants established a military government , to exploit the key rail and riverine transport routes that passed through it , and its valuable resources , particularly non - ferrous metal s . The Military Commander in Serbia appointed Serbian puppet government s to " carry on administrative chores under German direction and supervision " . On 29 August 1941 , the Germans appointed the Government of National Salvation ( ) under General Milan Nedić , to replace the short - lived Commissioner Administration . A pre - war politician who was known to have pro - Axis leanings , Nedić was selected because the Germans believed his fierce anti - Communism and military experience could be used to quell an armed uprising in the Serbian region of Šumadija . Unable to bring reinforcements due to the need to send soldiers to the Eastern Front , the Germans responded to the revolt by declaring that one - hundred Serbs would be executed for every German soldier killed and that fifty would be executed for every German soldier wounded . By October 1941 , this policy had resulted in the deaths of 25 , 000 Serbs . The Germans also targeted Jews , who were subjected to forced labour , punitive taxing , and restrictive decrees . Jews were also registered with German authorities and forced to wear identifying armbands while Jewish property was confiscated . They , and to a lesser degree Romanis , were targeted on racial grounds , although most were not killed outright . Following the start of the anti - German uprising , German propaganda began associating Jews with Communism and anti - German ideology . Executions and arrests of Serbian Jews followed . Operation . The camp at Topovske Šupe ( lit . canon sheds ) was established on 20 August 1941 on the site of a former military base of the Royal Yugoslav Army . Located on the outskirts of Belgrade , it was the first extermination camp for Jewish men established by German forces in Serbia and was partly run by the Gestapo . Originally , Jews from the Banat were detained in the camp due to Nazi allegations that Jewish groups were behind the anti - German revolt . Afterwards , the camp only detained Jewish males of fourteen years and older . Prisoners were held in poor conditions and were guarded by the gendarmes of the Nedić government , whose cruely towards inmates often exceeded that of the Germans . Prisoners who attempted to escape the camp were publicly hanged by the gendarmes as a warning to other inmates . The camp became a hostage centre from where the Germans could select victims for reprisal shootings . Daily , the Germans shot between 150 and 450 predominantly Jewish inmates . Executions usually occurred at the Jajinci firing range or in the village of Jabuka . They were carried out after inmates were deceived into thinking they were being taken to a camp in Austria where they would experience better treatment and would be fed better food . By December 1941 , most Serbian Jews over fourteen were detained at Topovske Šupe . That month , the camp was closed . An estimated 5 , 000 – 6 , 000 people were detained at Topovske Šupe throughout its operation , of whom 3 , 000 were killed as hostages and 1 , 300 were killed as suspected anti - fascists . Aftermath . After the war , the site of the camp was neglected by Belgrade authorities . In 2013 , Delta Holding announced plans to demolish the remains of the former camp and build a shopping centre in their place . This announcement was met by opposition from Jewish groups who argued that it was not " [ morally ] right to build a shopping centre on a site from where people have been taken to death . " One of the main contractors behind the project is an architectural group from Israel .