Serbian State Guard

The Serbian State Guard (Serbo-Croatian: Srpska državna straža or SDS, Српска државна стража; German: Serbische Staatsgarde) was an auxiliary paramilitary force used to impose law and order within the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia during the German military occupation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in World War II. It was formed from two former Yugoslav gendarmerie regiments, was created with the approval of the German military authorities, and for a long period was controlled by the Higher SS and Police Leader in the Territory. It was also known as the Nedićevci after the leader of the Serbian pro-Axis puppet government, General Milan Nedić, who eventually gained control of its operations. It assisted the Germans in imposing one of the most brutal occupation regimes in occupied Europe and helped guard and execute prisoners at the Banjica concentration camp in Belgrade. Its leaders and much of the rank and file were sympathetic to the Chetnik movement of Draža Mihailović, and it was purged by the Germans on several occasions for that reason. In October 1944, as the Red Army closed on Belgrade, the SDS was transferred to Mihailović's control by a member of the fleeing Nedić administration, but it quickly disintegrated during its withdrawal west, with only a small number of former SDS members being captured by the British near the Italian-Yugoslav border in May 1945.