Surdulica massacre
| Surdulica massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of World War I | |
The remains of those killed in the massacre exhumed in 1926. | |
| Location | Surdulica, Kingdom of Serbia |
| Date | November 1915–February 1916 |
| Target | Serbian men |
Attack type | Summary executions |
| Deaths | 2,000–3,000 |
| Perpetrators | Bulgarian occupational authorities |
A mass murder of Serbian men by Bulgarian occupational authorities occurred in the southern Serbian town of Surdulica between 1915 and 1916, during World War I. Members of the Serbian intelligentsia in the region, mostly functionaries, teachers, priests and former soldiers, were detained by Bulgarian forces—ostensibly so that they could be deported to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia—before being taken to Surdulica and killed. An estimated 2,000–3,000 Serbian men were executed by the Bulgarians in the town. Witnesses to the massacre were interviewed by American writer William Drayton in December 1918 and January 1919.