At the beginning of the German occupation of Yugoslavia the units of Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland commanded by Dragutin Keserović and supported by one detachment of communists attacked the German garrison in September 1941 but failed to liberate the town after four days battle. During World War II mass executions of patriots and antifascists occurred on hill Bagdala. Largest execution was in summer of 1943. At place of executions now is a monument named Slobodište (from the Serbian word "sloboda", which means 'freedom'). Kruševac was liberated on 14 October when chetnik collaborators and Germans left the city together. After the regime of communists in Serbia ended the Government of Serbia and its Ministry of Justice established the commission to research atrocities that were committed by members of the Yugoslav Partisan Movement after they gained control over Serbia in Autumn 1944. According to the report of this commission, out of 55,554 registered victims of communist purges in Serbia the new communist regime in Kruševac killed 493 people while 11 people are missing.