about 30% of the pre-war German population. The Serbian census from 2002 records 3,901 Germans in Serbia, of which 3,154 in the province of Vojvodina. In December 2007 they formed their own minority council in Novi Sad, which they were entitled to with 3,000 voter signatures. The president, Andreas Biegermeier, stated that the council will focus on property restitution, and marking of mass graves and camp sites. He estimated the total number of remaining Danube Swabians in Serbia and their descents at 5,000–8,000. In 2007 Banat Schwabians formed a national council. Population Ethnic groups According to the 1931 census, the population of the region numbered 585,579 people, including: Serbs = 261,123 (44.59%) Germans = 120,541 (20.58%) Hungarians = 95,867 (16.37%) Romanians = 62,365 (10.65%) Slovaks = 17,900 (3.06%) Croats = 12,546 (2.14%) others = 15,237 (2.61%) Religion By religion, the population included (1931 data): Orthodox Christians = 321,262 (56.71%) Roman Catholics = 196,087 (34.62%) Protestants = 37,179 (6.56%) others = 11,932 (2.11%) Number of victims During the war, German Axis troops killed 7,513 inhabitants of Banat, including: 2,211 people who were killed directly 1,294 people who were sent to concentration camps and killed there 1,498 people who were sent to forced labour and killed there 152 people who were mobilized and later killed 2,358 killed members of the resistance movement Of the total number of the victims (excluding members of the resistance movement), 4,010 were men, 631 were women, 243 were elderly people, and 271 were children. Note: This list includes only native inhabitants of Banat who fell as victims of Axis occupation. Civilians who were brought from other parts of occupied Yugoslavia and killed in Banat by German forces are not counted in this list. See also Hungarian occupation of Yugoslav territories 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen History of Vojvodina History of Serbia Banat Notes Footnotes References Jelena Popov, Vojvodina i Srbija, Veternik, 2001. Dimitrije Boarov, Politička istorija Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 2001. Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996. History of Europe, The Times, London, 2001. Richard Overy, History of the 20th century, The Times, London, 2003. Valdis O. Lumans, Himmler's Auxiliaries: The Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle and the German National minorities of Europe, 1939-1945 (University of North Carolina Press, 1993) External links Jewish history of Yugoslavia — Serbia and the Banat Holocaustchronicle.org: 1941—Mass Murder "Prinz Eugen" SS Division, 1941-1945 Partition of Yugoslavia in 1941 - Quotes from