Serbia purchases Hitler's infamous directive that ordered attack on Yugoslavia

BELGRADE - The Republic of Serbia on Wednesday purchased Adolf Hitler's infamous Directive No. 25 of March 27, 1941, whereby the German chancellor ordered the attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Kingdom of Greece.

Following an initiative submitted to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic by the Genocide Victims' Museum and a subsequent request by Vucic, the Government of Serbia secured the necessary funds to purchase one of the most significant documents in the entire history of the Serbs, the government said in a statement.

Signed by Hitler, the directive consists of 13 originals, one of which is now in the possession of the Republic of Serbia.

In terms of its significance, the document, which marked the beginning of WWII in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia - unleashed in the morning of April 6, 1941 - is comparable to the telegram of Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on the Kingdom of Serbia of July 28, 1914.

The directive marked the start of four years of dramatic fighting and immeasurable plight of civilians, especially Serbs.

The document includes an explicit order to carry out brutal air raids on Yugoslavia and round-the-clock bombings of Belgrade and expresses a readiness to cede parts of occupied Yugoslavia's territory to Bulgaria and Hungary and "heighten internal political tensions in Yugoslavia through political pledges to Croats."

Among other consequences, the directive resulted in the creation of preconditions for the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia and the start of genocide against Serbs across its territory.