After the Belgrade government coup on Thursday, 27 March, 1941, it was clear that Yugoslavia was also pulled into the war.  The Viennese treaty was no longer valid.  The mob yelled: “Bolje rat, nego Pakt.” (Better war than treaty.)  It was mobilized.

   On the 6th of April Belgrade was bombarded.  Air battles played out over Beschka.  One German destroyer was shot down.  He fell in flames about 400 meters north of Karl Hamweck Street in the field.  One Serbian plane crashed about 500 meters southeast of Reiter Square, on the mail route one more and within view still more.  The commissar mayor was Rev. Zivanovic.  He arrested about ten German hostages, but they were handed over to the outside.  The treatment of the hostages was correct, peace and order ruled in the whole village. Only the worry remained.

   On Karsamstag (Easter Saturday) on the 12th of April, Zivanovic called the German hostages to the common guard.  On Easter Sunday the first German soldiers came from the west and south.  It was unwise that Zivanovic was humble.  He had to sweep the walk in front of city hall.  Some Germans of Beschka thought his humbleness was too late.  Zivanovic was very unpopular with the people, but this humbleness was too much.    There was one other hardship case which was not exactly justified and calm.  But then peace and order came to the village.

   In September 1941 a German woman with three children was murdered in Krtschedin in a bestial fashion (savage way).  The trust between Germans and Serbs went downhill because of it.  Croatian Ustaschas abducted 60 respected Serbs in retaliation.  After the people fled the Serbian mayor of Krtschedin personally shot the culprit.

   In 1942 the Partisans (Communist Freischäler) were active in the Beschka region.  Around 1943 the sentry Michael Täubel (Reg. No. 2012) was shot, and as reinforcements hurried here, Peter Ewinger (Reg. No. 958) was wounded.  In the fall of 1943 members of the Partisans were taken as hostages by the Wehrmacht (armed forces) to Semlin, and after that one train blew up from a mine, ten men were shot and ten men were hanged.  How one learned after the war, was from a mine laid by a Beschka German.  In 1942 the Partisans set fire to some hectars of wheat crosses in the fields, also in 1943 and 1944. 

   On Easter in 1944 the endangered Darkowatz refugees came to Beschka, and in May those from Paleschnik, altogether about 800 people.  Afterward some couples between the people of Beschka and these refugees were shot.  On the 3rd of July 1944 the Krtschedin crew searched for them after the talk by the Partisans’ abducted countryman Bierman and were shot at the Fällersalasch (field cottage) on the Beschka corridor by the surprised Partisans.  Help came to the people of Beschka from the citizen’s guard and armed forces from India.  Eighteen Partisans were felled by themand Wack from Krtschedin was wounded.  As a result all of the Salasches were thoroughly searched and at the Krasojewitsch Salasch some collaborators of the ringleader were shot.

   There a very well camouflaged bunker was found.  The owner came under suspicion by the Partisans, the hiding place was given away, and the Fehme? court sentenced him to death.  The sentence was carried out in two to three days.  From the Fehme? court the former judge (mayor) Sava Baic and one Serb named Klasnja still presided.  In the summer of 1944 Josef Schramm (Reg. No. 1740) was murdered in the field.  After the war one heard that Schramm saw a Beschka Serb under the Partisans and to hush this up he was shot half way up the postal route where he wanted to cut a willow branch.  The Schramm case and the Bajic case were very closely connected.  An eye for an eye, as it already went in wars.  There were still some hardship cases against the Serbs which I cannot write about because necessity and calmness at least for both sides are clearly not perfect.  In the war each party always believed to be in the right that has no right.  Practically the loser is always guilty.

   The responsible Germans in Beschka were not thoughtless.  On one hand it was necessary to give more Germans weapons in the house, but on the other hand nobody could guarantee that these weapons would not be misused.  Not everyone was given a weapon at home.  It is apparent that the leadership of the order was careful.  Gradually we received 400 rifles and 4 machine guns – which included the MG42, the most modern which fired 1600 rounds per minute -, a light grenade thrower, 200 grenade launchers?, 22 Panzer (tank) grenades, and about 1500 rounds of ambition (bullets).

   The homeland guard did their service until September 1944 in civilian clothes.  They had four platoons, so that in the summer each man served every second night.  During the day there was no guard service because one did not have to wait for any great attack by day. (Approach and retreat of the Partisans during the day was not very possible for larger units.)  For smaller day attacks trustworthy men were supplied with weapons in their homes.  For those in guard service there was the added burden of day work.  Some had bad footwear and clothing.  Some also had to expect an outside mission and that is why a uniformed company of 122 men was equipped for it.

   Reserve Captain Lang (Reg. No, 1178), Reserve Lieutenants Bächer (Reg. No. 41) and Kniesel (Reg. No. 1041), and Reserve officer Stehli (Reg. No. 1894) were called up on a course to Essegg and trained as company and platoon leaders.  In September 1944 the company was put on duty and quickly trained in shooting and tactics.  As platoon leader there was also Ewinger (Reg. No. 462) as well.  As the last women and children fled we also wanted to take off with the company but were whistled back by the countrymen’s leaders at the Maradik Crossing.  First on the 17th of September we moved to India and on the 22nd of October to Essegg.  Around the 10th of November the company was dissolved and left to their families.  Nobody knew where their family was and yet they soon found them.