Editing Schutzstaffel (section)

===Campaign in the Balkans===
In April 1941, the German Army [[Invasion of Yugoslavia|invaded Yugoslavia]] and [[German invasion of Greece|Greece]]. The LSSAH and ''Das Reich'' were attached to separate army [[Panzer corps]]. [[Fritz Klingenberg]], a company commander in the ''Das Reich'' division, led his men across Yugoslavia to the capital, [[Belgrade]], where a small group in the vanguard accepted the surrender of the city on 13 April. A few days later Yugoslavia surrendered.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|pp=162, 163}}{{sfn|Weale|2012|p=297}} SS police units immediately began taking hostages and carrying out reprisals, a practice that became common. In some cases, they were joined by the ''Wehrmacht''.{{sfn|Bessel|2006|pp=110–111}} Similar to Poland, the war policies of the Nazis in the Balkans resulted in brutal occupation and racist mass murder. Serbia became the second country (after [[Estonia]]) declared ''[[Judenfrei]]'' (free of Jews).{{sfn|Bessel|2006|p=110}}

In Greece, the ''Wehrmacht'' and ''Waffen-SS'' encountered resistance from the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] (BEF) and the [[Hellenic Army|Greek Army]].{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|pp=163, 165}} The fighting was intensified by the mountainous terrain, with its heavily defended narrow passes. The LSSAH was at the forefront of the German push.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|pp=163–166}} The BEF evacuated by sea to [[Crete]], but had to flee again in late May when the Germans arrived.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=155}} Like Yugoslavia, the conquest of Greece brought its Jews into danger, as the Nazis immediately took a variety of measures against them.{{sfn|Bessel|2006|p=111}} Initially confined in ghettos, most were transported to [[Auschwitz concentration camp]] in March 1943, where they were murdered in the [[gas chamber]]s on arrival. Of Greece's 80,000 Jews, only 20 per cent survived the war.{{sfn|Frusetta|2012|p=266}}