| Conflict: | Operation Rübezahl I |
| Place: | German-occupied territory of Serbia and German-occupied territory of Montenegro |
| Partof: | World War II in Yugoslavia |
| Date: | 12–30 August 1944 |
| Combatant1: | Montenegrin Volunteer Corps Free Arabian Legion Sandžak Muslim militia 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg |
| Combatant2: | Yugoslav Partisans 1st Corps 2nd Corps (2 divisions) 12th Corps |
| Strength1: | 50,000 |
| Strength2: | 16,000 |
| Casualties1: | unknown |
| Casualties2: | 1,000 injured, unknown killed |
| Commander1: | Artur Phleps |
| Commander2: | Peko Dapčević |
Operation Rübezahl was the name of 3 German anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia during World War II. The first operation announced the beginning of a strategic retreat by Nazi German troops from Serbia after the front change of Romania and Bulgaria.[1]
In summer 1944, German soldiers were doing sweeps against communist-led Yugoslav Partisans under the overall command of Josip Broz Tito. But on 30 August, after Romania and Bulgaria split from their Nazi ally, Germany entered into a crisis on the Balkan front. While the forces of the Partisans were moving to unite with the Soviet Red Army in the German-occupied territory of Serbia, German troops tried to avoid defeat in that strategic area by implementing "Operation Rübezahl" to enable the organised retreat of Germans. Among them there were:[2]
Between 20 and 22 August, German troops surrounded and destroyed a particularly large Partisan unit moving westwards from the Independent State of Croatia to occupied Serbia. Only a few Partisans survived thanks to Allied planes which managed to land on battered airstrips, air-lifting about a thousand injured to hospitals located in Italy.[3]
Operation Rübezahl II was a German offensive in February 1945 against Yugoslav partisans in the Slovene Littoral.[4]
Operation Rübezahl III was a German and Croat offensive in March 1945 against the Yugoslav 30th 'Slovenia' Division, who was threatening the important port city of Trieste.[5]