C R O A T I A
WORLD WAR II
INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA
NEZAVISNA DRŽAVA HRVATSKA - NDH
INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA - NEZAVISNA DRŽAVA HRVATSKA
(NDH)C.C.STARA GRADISKA - MEAL CARD, February 1944
Very rare and 100% authentic unused MEAL CARD of the Concentration
Camp of Stara Gradiska (subcamp of Concetration Camp
Jasenovac).
Condition: UNCIRCULATED.
VERY RARE !!!
WORLD WAR II
CROATIA: CONCENTRATION CAMP STARA GRADIŠKA - MEAL CARD
1944
Jasenovac concentration camp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jasenovac concentration camp (Croatian, Serbian: Logor Jasenovac;
Cyrillic script: Логор
Јасеновац.
Yiddish:
יאסענאוואץ,
Hebrew: יסנובץ) was the largest
extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during
World War II. The camp was established by the Ustaše
(Ustasha) regime in August 1941 and dismantled in April 1945. In
Jasenovac, the largest number of victims were ethnic Serbs, whom
Ante Pavelić considered the main opponents of the NDH. The
camp also held Jews, Roma, communists, and large numbers of
Tito\\\\\\\\´s Partisans.[1]
Jasenovac was a complex of five subcamps[2] spread over 240 km2 (93
sq mi) on the banks of the Sava river. The largest camp was at
Jasenovac, about 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Zagreb. The complex
also included large grounds at Donja Gradina directly across the
Sava river, a camp for children in Sisak to the northwest, and a
women´s camp in STARA GRADIŠKA to the southeast.
NDH Legislation
Ustaše commander of Jasenovac concentration camp.
Some of the first legal orders of the NDH reflected the acceptance
of the ideology of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, with an emphasis
placed on Croatian national issues. The \\\\\\\"Legal order for the
defense of the people and the state\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" dated April 17,
1941 ordered the death penalty for \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"infringement of
the honour and vital interests of the Croatian people and the
survival of the Independent State of Croatia\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". It
was soon followed by the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Legal order of
races\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Legal order of the
protection of Aryan blood and the honour of the Croatian
people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" dated April 30, 1941, as well as the
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Order of the creation and definition of the
racial-political committee\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" dated June 4, 1941.
These decrees were enforced not only through the regular court
system, but also through new special courts and mobile
court-martials with extended jurisdiction In July, 1941, when
existing jails could no longer contain the growing number of new
inmates, the Ustaša government began clearing the ground for
what would become the Jasenovac concentration camp.[3]
[edit] Nazi Germany
Ustaše guard in a mass grave at Jasenovac concentration
camp.
On April 10, 1941, the Independent State of Croatia was
established, supported by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. It
adopted their racial and political doctrines. Jasenovac\\\\\\\\´s
role in the Nazi \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"final solution\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" was
as the ethnic cleansing of Romany and Serbian inhabitants.[citation
needed]
The Ustase\\\\\\\\´s death camps were directed by numerous Nazi
sources:
*
The office of foreign affairs, represented in Croatia by Siegfried
Kasche.
*
The S.S., represented by a Gestapo official whose identity has not
been fully established, but whom Jewish witnesses knew as
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Miller\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".
*
The Reichsfuhrung and the Wehrmacht.
The competition between the different authorities would not usually
benefit the Jews, but actually caused each to try and excel past
its competitors in maltreatment of Jews and others. The Nazis
encouraged the Ustase\\\\\\\\´s anti-Jewish and anti-Roma actions
and showed support for the anti-Serb policy. Soon, the Nazis began
to make clear their genocidal goals, as shown by the speech Hitler
gave to Slavko Kvaternik, at their meeting on July, 21, 1941:
The Jews are the bane of mankind. If the Jews will be allowed to do
as they will, like they are permitted in their Soviet heaven, than
they will fulfill their most insane plans. And thus Russia became
the center to the world\\\\\\\\´s illness... if for any reason, one
nation would endure the existence of a single Jewish family, that
family would eventually become the center of a new plot. If there
are no more Jews in Europe, nothing will hold the unification of
the European nations... this sort of people cannot be integrated in
the social order or into an organized nation. They are parasites on
the body of a healthy society, that live off of expulsion of decent
people. One cannot expect them to fit into a state that requires
order and discipline. There is only one thing to be done with them:
To exterminate them. The state holds this right since, while
precious men die on the battlefront, it would be nothing less than
criminal to spare these bastards. They must be expelled, or –
if they pose no threat to the public – to be imprisoned
inside concentration camps and never be
released.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[4]
In the Wansee Conference, Germany offered the Croatian government
transportation of its Jews southwards, but questioned the
importance of the offer, saying that: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the enactment
of the final solution of the Jewish question is not crucial, since
the key aspects of this problem were already solved by radical
actions these governments took\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[5]
In addition to specifying the means of extermination, the Nazis
often arranged the imprisonment or transfer of inmates to
Jasenovac.[6][7][8] Kasche\\\\\\\\´s emissary, Major Knehe, visited
the camp in February 6, 1942. Kasche thereafter reported to his
superiors:
Capitan Luburic, the commander-in-action of the camp, explained the
construction plans of the camp. It turns out that he made these
plans while in exile. These plans he modified after visiting
concentration-camps installments in Germany.[9]
It thus appears that the Nazis inspected Jasenovac, possibly due to
doubts they had about Ustase devotion to the extermination of Jews.
Kasche wrote the following:\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The Poglavnik asks
General Bader to realize that the Jasenovac camp cannot receive the
refugees of Kozara. I agreed since the camp is also required to
solve the problem in deporting the Jews to the east. Minister
Turina can deport the Jews to Jasenovac\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[10]
It is unclear whether Jasenovac was to be used primarily as a death
camp in its own right, like Sajmiste, or more as a collection depot
from which Jews would be transported to Auschwitz. Stara-Gradiska
was the primary site from which Jews were transported to Auschwitz,
but Kashe\\\\\\\\´s letter refers specifically to the subcamp
Ciglana in this regard.[11] The extermination of Serbs at Jasenovac
was precipitated by General Bader, who ordered that refugees be
taken to Jasenovac. Although Jasenovac was expanded, officials were
told that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Jasenovac concentration and labor camp
cannot hold an infinite number of
prisoners\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[12]
Soon thereafter, German suspicions were renewed that the
Ustaše was more concerned with the elimination of Serbs than
Jews, and that Italian and Catholic pressure was dissuading the
Ustase from killing Jews.[13]
The Nazis revisited the possibility of transporting Jews to
Auschwitz for liquidation, not only because extermination was
easier there, but also because the profits produced from the
victims could be kept in German hands, rather than being left for
the Croats or Italians.[14] Instead Jasenovac remained a place
where Jews who could not be deported would be interned and killed:
In this way, while Jews were deported from Tenje, two deportations
were also made to Jasenovac.[15] It is also illustrated by the
report sent by Hans Helm to Adolf Eichmann, saying that the Jews
will first be collected in Stara-Gradiska,and that
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Jews employed in \\\\\\\\´forced labor\\\\\\\\´ in
Ustase camps\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", mentioning only Jasenovac and Stara
Gradiska,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" will not be deported\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[16]
The Nazis also found interest in the Jews that remained inside the
camp, even in June 1944, after the visit of a Red Cross delegation.
Kasche wrote: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Schmidlin showed a special interest
in the Jews... Luburic told me that Schmidllin told him that the
Jews must be treated in the finest manner, and that they must
survive, no matter what happens... Luburic suspected Schmidllin is
an English agent and therefore prevented all contact between him
and the Jews\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[17]
Creation and operation of Jasenovac concentration camp
The Jasenovac complex was built between August 1941 and February
1942. The first two camps, Krapje and Bročica, were closed in
November 1941.[18]
The three newer camps continued to function until the end of the
war:
*
Ciglana (Jasenovac III)
*
Kozara (Jasenovac IV)
*
Stara Gradiška (Jasenovac V)
Ustase militia executing people over a mass grave near Jasenovac
concentration camp
The camp was constructed, managed and supervised by Department III
of the Ustaška Narodna Služba or UNS (lit.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Ustaše People\\\\\\\\´s
Service\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"), a special police force of the NDH.
Vjekoslav \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Maks\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Luburić was
head of the UNS. Individuals managing the camp at different times
included Miroslav Majstorović and Dinko Šakić.[19]
The camp administration in times used other Ustase battalions,
police units, domobrani units, auxiliary units made up of Muslims,
and even the aid of German and Hungarian Nazis.[20]
The Ustaše interned, tortured and executed men, women and
children in Jasenovac. The largest number of victims were Serbs,
but other victims included Jews, [21]Gypsies, and Croatian
resistance members opposed to the regime (i.e. Partisans or their
sympathizers, categorized by the Ustaše as
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"communists\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"). Upon arrival at the
camp, the prisoners were marked with colors, similar to the use of
Nazi concentration camp badges: blue for Serbs, and red for
communists (non-Serbian resistance members), while Gypsies had no
marks (this practice was later abandoned.).[22] Most victims were
killed at execution sites near the camp: Granik, Gradina, and other
places. Those kept alive were mostly skilled at needed professions
and trades (doctors, pharmacists, electricians, shoemakers,
goldsmiths, and so on) and were employed in services and workshops
at Jasenovac[23]
[edit] The population of inmates in Jasenovac
[edit] Serbs
Serbs constituted the majority of inmates in Jasenovac.[24] In
several instances, inmates were immediately killed for confessing
their Serbian ethnicity and most considered it to be the reason for
their imprisonment.[25] The Serbs were predominantly brought from
the Kozara region, where the Ustasa captured areas along with
partisan guerrillas.[26] These were brought to camp without
sentence, almost destined to immediate liquidation, accelerated via
use of a machine-gun.[27]
[edit] Jews
A report on the deportation of Travnik area Jews to Jasenovac and
Stara Gradiška camps, March 1942
Jews, being the primary target of Nazi-oriented Genocide, were the
second-largest category of victims of Jasenovac. The number of
Jewish casualties is uncertain, but ranges from about 8,000 [28] up
to 25,000[29] Most of the executions of Jews at Jasenovac occurred
prior to August 1942. Thereafter, the NDH started to deport them to
Auschwitz. In general, Jews were initially sent to Jasenovac from
all parts of Croatia after being gathered in Zagreb, and from
Bosnia and Herzegovina after being gathered in Sarajevo. Some,
however, were transported directly to Jasenovac from other cities
and smaller towns.
[edit] Gypsies
Gypsies in Jasenovac consisted of both Roma and Sinti, who were
captured in various areas in Bosnia, especially in the Kozara
region. They were brought to Jasenovac and taken to area III-C,
under the open sky, in terms of nutrition, hydration, shelter and
sanitary that were below the camp\\\\\\\\´s standards.[30] The
figures of murdered Gypsies are the most controversial, save
figures of Serbian casualties, and they range between 20,000 and
50,000.[31]
[edit] Anti-fascists
Anti-fascists were also a notable part of the inmate population.
These consisted of various sorts of political and ideological
antagonists of the Ustasa. In general, their treatment was similar
to other inmates, although known Communists were executed right
away,[32] and convicted Ustasa or law-enforcement officials, [33]
or others close to the Ustasa in opinion, such as Croatian
peasants, were held on beneficial terms and granted amnesty after
serving a duration of time.[34]
[edit] Various
The Ustasa also imprisoned various sorts of other ethnicities:
Ukrainians, Romanians, Austrians, Bosniaks, Slovenes and
Montenegrians.[35]
[edit] Living conditions
Emaciated children at Jasenovac concentration camp
Children at Jasenovac concentration camp
The living conditions in the camp evidenced the severity typical in
Nazi death camps: a meager diet, deplorable accommodations, and
cruel behavior by the Ustaše guards. Also, as in many camps,
conditions would be improved temporarily during visits by
delegations – such as the press delegation that visited in
February 1942 and a Red Cross delegation in June 1944 – and
reverted after the delegation left.[36]
*
Food: Again, typical of Nazi death camps, the diet of inmates at
Jasenovac was insufficient to sustain life: The sorts of food they
consumed changed during the camp\\\\\\\\´s existence. In camp
Brocice, inmates were given a \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"soup\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
made of hot water with starch for breakfast, and beans for lunch
and dinner (served at 6:00, 12:00 and 21:00).[37] Food in Camp No.
III was initially better, consisting of potatoes instead of beans;
however, in January the diet was changed to a single daily serving
of thin \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"turnip soup\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[38] By the end
of the year, the diet had been changed again, to three daily
portions of thin gruel made of water and starch.[39] Food changed
repeatedly thereafter.
*
Water: Jasenovac was even more severe than most death camps in one
respect: a general lack of potable water. Prisoners were forced to
drink water from the Sava river, which was contaminated with ren
(horseradish).[40]
*
Accommodations: In the first camps, Brocice and Krapje, inmates
slept in standard concentration-camp barracks, with three tiers of
bunks. In Camp No. III, which housed some 3,000 inmates, inmates
initially slept in the attics of the workshops, in an open depot
designated as a railway \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"tunnel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", or
simply in the open. A short time later, eight barracks were
erected.[41][42] Inmates slept in six of these barracks, while the
other two were used as a \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"clinic\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and
a \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"hospital\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", where ill inmates were
concentrated to die or be liquidated.[43][44][45][46][47]
*
Forced labor: As in all concentration camps, Jasenovac inmates also
had to daily perform some 11 hours of hard forced labor, under the
eye of the Ustasa captors, who would execute any inmate for the
most trivial reasons, allegedly for \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"sabotaging
labor\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[48][49][50] The labor section was overseen
by Ustasas Hinko Dominik Picilli and Tihomir Kordic. Picillii would
personally lash inmates to work harder.[51][52] He divided the
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Jasenovac labor force\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" into 16
groups, including groups of construction, brickworks, metal-works,
agriculture and etc... The inmates would perish from the hard work.
Work in the brickworks was hard.[53] Blacksmith work was also done,
as the inmates forged knives and other weapons for the Ustasa.[54]
Dike construction work was most feared.[55][56][57]
*
Sanitation: Inside the camp, squalor and lack of sanitation
reigned: clutter, blood, vomit and bodies filled the barracks,
which were also full of pests and of the foul scent of the often
overflowing latrine bucket.[58][59] Due to exposure to the
elements, inmates suffered from impaired health leading to
epidemics of typhus, typhoid, malaria, pleuritis, influenza,
dysentery and diphtheria.[60] During pauses in labor (5:00-6:00;
12:00-13:00, 17:00-20:00[61])inmates had to relief themselves at
open latrines, which consisted of big pits dug open fields, covered
in planks. Inmates would tend to fall inside, and often died. The
Ustase encouraged this by either having internees separate the
planks, or by physically drowning inmates inside. The pit would
overflow during floods and rains, and was also drained into the
lake, from which inmate drinking water was taken.[62][63][64][65]
The inmate\\\\\\\\´s rags and blankets were too thin to prevent
exposure to frost, as was the shelter of the barracks.[66] the
clothes and blankets were rarely and poorly cleansed, as inmates
were only allowed to wash them briefly in the lake\\\\\\\\´s waters
once a month[67] save during winter time, when the lake froze.
Then, a sanitation device was erected in a warehouse, where a few
clothes were insufficiently boiled.[68]
*
Lack of personal possessions: The inmates were stripped of their
belongings and personal attire. As inmates, only ragged
prison-issue clothing was given to them. In winter, inmates were
given thin \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"rain-coats\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and they were
allowed to make light sandals. Inmates were given a personal food
bowl, designated to contain 0.4ltrs of
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"soup\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" they were fed with. Inmates
whose bowl was missing (stolen by another inmate to defecate in)
would receive no food.[69] During delegation visits, inmates were
given bowls twice as large with spoons. Additionally, at such
times, inmates were given colored tags.
*
anxiety: The fear of death, and the paradox of a situation in which
the living dwell next to the dead, had great impact on the
internees. Basically, an inmate\\\\\\\\´s life in a concentration
camp can be viewed in the optimal way when looking at it in three
stages: arrival to camp, living inside it, and the release. The
first stage consisted of the shock caused by the hardships in
transit to camp. The Ustase would fuel this shock by murdering a
number of inmates on arrival and by temporarly housing new-arrivals
in warehouses, attics, in the train tunnel and outdoors.[70] After
the inmates grew familiar with the life in camp, they would enter
the second and most critical phase: living through the anguish of
death, and the sorrow, hardships and abuse. The peril of death was
most prominent in \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"public performances for public
punishment\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" or selections, when inmates would be
lined in groups and individuals would be randomly pointed out to
receive punishment of death before the rest. The Ustase would
intensify this by prolonging the process, patrolling about and
asking questions, gazing at inmates, choosing them and then refrain
and point out another.[71][72] As inmates, people could react to
the Ustase crimes in an active or passive manner. The activists
would form resistance movements and groups, steal food, plot
escapes and revolts, contacts with the outside world.[73] The
passive inmates, the majority, would react by attempt to survive,
to go through the day unharmed. This is not \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"going
in line to slaughter\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", but rather another approach
to survival, which deprived the Ustase of the possibility of
completely dehumanizing the inmates. However, some of these inmates
became in this way utterly primitive, as their whole life revolved
around following orders and eating a bowl of soup. Thus they became
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"musselmans\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\": physically appearing as
living skeletons, but mentally stripped of their humanity beyond
hope of salvation. All inmates suffered from psychological
phenomena to some extent: obsessive thoughts of food, paranoia,
delusions, day-dreams, lack of self-control.[74] some inmates
reacted with attempts at documenting the atrocities, such as Nikola
Nikolic, Djuro Schawrtz and Ilija Ivanovic, who all tried to
memorize and even write of events, dates and details. Such deeds
were perilous, since writing was punishable by death and tracking
dates was hard.[75]
[edit] Mass murder and cruelty
A knife nicknamed \\\\\\\\´Serbcutter, strapped to the hand, which
was used by the Ustaše militia for the speedy killing of
inmates in Jasenovac.
Butchered victims were thrown into the river.
In the late summer of 1942, tens of thousands of Serbian villagers
were deported to Jasenovac from the Kozara mountain area (in
Bosnia) where NDH forces were fighting against the Yugoslav
Partisans.[76] Most of the men were killed at Jasenovac, but women
were sent to forced labor in Germany. Children were taken from
their mothers and either killed or dispersed to Catholic
orphanages.[77]
On the night of August 29, 1942, the prison guards made bets among
themselves as to who could liquidate the largest number of inmates.
One of the guards, Petar Brzica, boasted [78] cutting the throats
of about 1,360 new arrivals with a butcher knife that became known
as srbosjek (\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Serb-cutter\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"). Other
participants who confessed to participating in the bet included
Ante Zrinusic, who killed some 600 inmates, and Mile Friganovic,
who gave a detailed and consistent report of the incident.[79]
Friganovic admitted to having killed some 1,100 inmates. He
specifically recounted his torture of an old man named Vukasin; he
attempted to compel the man to bless Ante Pavelic, which the old
man refused to do, although Friganovic cut off his ears, nose and
tongue after each refusal. Ultimately, he cut out the old
man\\\\\\\\´s eyes, tore out his heart, and slashed his throat.
This incident was witnessed by Dr. Nikola Nikolic.[80]
[edit] Systematic extermination of prisoners
Besides sporadic killings and deaths due to the poor living
conditions, many inmates arriving at Jasenovac were scheduled for
systematic liquidation. An important criterion for selection was
the duration of a prisoner\\\\\\\\´s anticipated detention. Strong
men capable of labor and sentenced to less than three years of
incarceration were allowed to live. All inmates with indeterminate
sentences or sentences of three years or more were immediately
scheduled for liquidation, regardless of their
fitness.[81][82][83][84]
Systematic extermination varied both as to place and form. Some of
the executions were mechanical, following Nazi methodology, while
others were manual. The mechanical means of extermination
included:
*
Cremation: The Ustase cremated living inmates, who were sometimes
drugged and sometimes fully awake, as well as corpses. The first
cremations took place in the brick factory ovens in January,
1942.[85][86] Engineer Hinko Dominik Picilli perfected this method
by converting seven of the kiln\\\\\\\\´s furnace chambers into
more sophisticated crematories.[87][88][89].[90][91];[92][93]
Crematories were also placed in Gradina, across the Sava River.
According to the State Commission, however, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"there
is no information that it ever went into
operation.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[94] Later testimony, however, say the
Gradina crematory had become operational.[95][96] Some bodies were
buried rather than cremated, as shown by exhumation of bodies late
in the war.
*
Gassing and poisoning: The Ustase, in following the Nazi example,
as set in Auschwitz and Sajmiste, tried to employ poisonous gas to
kill inmates that arrived in Stara-Gradiska. They first tried to
gas the women and children that arrived from camp Djakovo with gas
vans that Simo Klaic called \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"green
Thomas\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[97][98] The method was later replaced with
stationary gas-chambers with Zyklon B and sulfur
dioxide.[99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106]
Manual methods, the Ustase\\\\\\\\´s favorites, were liquidation
that took part in utilizing sharp or blunt craftsmen tools: knives,
saws, hammers, et cetera. These liquidations took place in various
locations:
*
Granik: Granik was a ramp used to unload goods of Sava boats. In
winter 1943-44, season agriculture laborers became unemployed,
while large transports of new internees arrived and the need for
liquidation, in light of the expected Axis defeat, were large.
Therefore, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Maks\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Luburic devised a
plan to utilize the crane as a gallows on which slaughter would be
committed, so that the bodies could be dumped into the stream of
the flowing river. In the autumn, the Ustase NCO\\\\\\\\´s came in
every night for some 20 days, with lists of names of people who
were incarcerated in the warehouse, stripped, chained, beaten and
than taken to the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Granik\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", where
weights were tied to the wire that was bent on their arms, and
their intestines and neck were slashed, and they were thrown into
the river with a blow of a blunt tool in the head. The method was
later enhanced, so that inmates were tied in pairs, back to back,
their bellies were cut before they were tossed into the river
alive.[107][108][109][110]
*
Gradina: The Ustase utilized empty areas in the vicinity of the
villages Donja Gradina and Ustice, where they encircled an area
marked for slaughter and mass graves in wire. The Ustase slew
victims with knives or smashed their skulls with mallets. When
gypsies arrived in the camp, they did not undergo selection, but
were rather concentrated under the open skies at a section of camp
known as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"III-C\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". From there the
gypsies were taken to liquidation in Gradina, working on the dike
(men) or in the corn fields in Ustice (women) in between
liquidations. Thus Gradina and Ustica became Roma mass grave sites.
Furthermore, small groups of gypsies were utilized as gravediggers
that actually participated in the slaughter at Gradina. Thus the
extermination at the site grew until it became the main
killing-ground in Jasenovac. Grave sites were also located in
Ustica and in Draksenic.[111][112][113]
*
Mlaka and Jablanac: Two sites used as collection and labor camps
for the women and children in camps III and V, but also as places
where many of these women and children, as well as other groups,
were liquidated at the Sava bank in between the two locations.
*
Velika Kustarica: According to the state-commission, as far as
50,000 people were killed here in the winter amid 1941 and
1942.[114] There are more evidence suggesting that killings took
place there at that time and afterwards.[115][116]
[edit] Inmate help
In 1942, Diana Budisavljević came into contact with German
officers at Stara Gradiška about releasing children from the
camp.[117] With the help of the Ministry of Social Affairs,
especially prof. Kamil Bresler, she was able to relocate child
inmates from the camp to Zagreb, and other places.[117] The
Red-Cross is in times accused of insufficient aid of the persecuted
Jews in Nazi Europe. In the NDH, however, the operation of the
Red-Cross was ambivalent, and although the assistance was perhaps
late or insufficient, it was the most help the victims ever got.
The local representative, Julius Schmidllin, was contacted by the
Jewish community, which sought financial aid. The organisation
helped to release Jews from camps, and even debated with the
Croatian government in relation to visiting the Jasenovac camp. The
wish was eventually granted in July 1944. The camp was prepared for
the arrival of the delegation, so that it found nothing
incriminating.[118] The inmates also received help from Croat
citizens and even of Ustase. Borislav Seva was rescued by an Ustase
Vladimir Cupic.[119] Inmate resistance groups were aided by
contacts amongst the Ustase: one of these groups, operating in the
tannery, was assisted by Ustase Dr. Marin Jurcev and his wife, and
by an Ustase that defected to the Partisan side with information of
the atrocities of Jasenovac.[120] Ustase found guilty of tender
handling of inmates were killed.[121] Civilians were mostly kind
towards inmates that did exterior labor.[122][123]
[edit] End of the camp
In April 1945, as Partisan units approached the camp, the
Ustaše camp supervisors attempted to erase traces of the
atrocities by working the death camp at full capacity. On April 22,
600 prisoners revolted; 520 were killed and 80 escaped.[124] Before
abandoning the camp shortly after the prisoner revolt, the
Ustaše killed the remaining prisoners, blasted and destroyed
the buildings, guardhouses, torture rooms, the
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Picili Furnace\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", and the other
structures. Upon entering the camp, the partisans found only ruins,
soot, smoke, and dead bodies.
During the following months of 1945, the grounds of Jasenovac were
thoroughly destroyed by prisoners of war. The Allied forces
captured 200 to 600 Home Guard members. Laborers completed
destruction of the camp, leveling the site and dismantling the
two-kilometer long, four-meter high wall that surrounded it.
[edit] Victims
Memorial signs with claims of victim counts, situated on the
Republika Srpska side of the Sava river
[edit] Total Number
Historians have had difficulty calculating the number of victims at
Jasenovac, and the accurate-number will never be known and it
ranges between 49,600 to 600,000[125]. The first figures to be
offered by the state-commission of Croatia ranged around 500,000
and even 600,000. Official estimate of the number of victims in
SFRY was 700,000. Several times substantially smaller numbers were
suggested by Croatian side starting from the 90s, and exact numbers
became subject of great controversy and hot political dispute, with
Croatian government and institutions pushing for a much lower
number.
The estimates vary due to lack of accurate records, the methods
used for making estimates, and sometimes the political biases of
the estimators. In some cases, entire families were exterminated,
leaving no one to submit their names to the lists. On the other
hand, it has been found that the lists include the names of people
who died elsewhere, whose survival was not reported to the
authorities, or who are counted more than once on the lists.
The casualty figures for the whole of Yugoslavia sways between the
maximal 1,700,000 (nowadays refuted) and the more reliable figures
between 1,500,000[126] or one million[127].
[edit] Historical documentation sources
The documentation from the time of Jasenovac revolves around the
different sides in the battle for Yugoslavia: The Germans and
Italians on the one hand, and the Partisans on the other. There are
also sources originating from the documentation of the Ustase
themselves and of the Vatican. These sources are in times
considered contemporary because German and Ustase sources tend to
exaggerate, but the comparison of all different sources can give a
reliable portrait of the historical truth.
German generals issued reports of the number of victims as the war
progressed. German military commanders gave different figures for
the number of Serbs, Jews and others killed on the territory of the
Independent State of Croatia. They circulated figures of 400,000
Serbs (Alexander Löhr); 350,000 Serbs (Lothar Rendulic); around
300,000 (Edmund Glaise von Horstenau); in 1943;
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"600-700,000 until March 1944\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" (Ernst
Fick); 700,000 (Massenbach). Hermann Neubacher calculates:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"A third must become Catholic, a third must leave
the country, and a third must die!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This last point
of their program was accomplished. When prominent Ustasha leaders
claimed that they slaughtered a million Serbs, that is, in my
opinion, a boastful exaggeration. On the basis of the reports
submitted to me, I believe that the number of defenseless victims
slaughtered to be three quarters of a million. (Neubacher, Dr.
Hermann. Special Assignment in the Southeast, p. 18-30.)
Italian generals, who were more overwhelmed by the atrocious Ustase
slaughter, also reported of similar figures to their
commanders.[128] The Vatican\\\\\\\\´s sources also speak of
similar figures, that is, for an example, of 350,000 Serbs
slaughtered by the end of 1942 (Eugen Tisserant[129]) and
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"over 500,000 people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" at all
(Godfried Danneels.[130])
The Ustase themselves gave more exaggerated assumptions of the
number of people they killed. Vjekoslav
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Maks\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Luburić,
commander-in-chief of all the Croatian camps, announced the great
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"efficiency\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" of the Jasenovac camp at
a ceremony as early as October 9, 1942. During the banquet which
followed, he reported with pride, intoxicated: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We
have slaughtered here at Jasenovac more people than the Ottoman
Empire was able to do during its occupation of
Europe.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[131] Other Ustase sources give more canon
estimations: a circular of the Ustase general headquarters that
reads: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the concentration and labor camp in
Jasenovac can receive an unlimited number of
internees\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[132]. In the same spirit, Miroslav
Filipovic-Majstorovic, once captured by Yugoslav forces, addmitted,
that during his three months of administration, 20,000 to 30,000
people died.[133] Since it became clear that his confession was an
attempt to somewhat minimize the rate of crimes committed in
Jasenovac, having, for an example, claimed to have personally
killed 100 people, extremlly understated[134], Miroslav\\\\\\\\´s
figures are evaluated so that in some sources they appear as
30,000-40,000.[135][136]
A report of the National Committee of Croatia for the investigation
of the crimes of the occupation forces and their collaborators,
dated November 15, 1945, which was commissioned by the new
government of Yugoslavia under Tito, stated that 500,000-600,000
people were killed at the Jasenovac complex. These figures were
cited by researchers Israel Gutman and Menachem Shelach in the
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Encyclopedia of the Holocaust\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" from
1990 and Simon Wiesenthal Center[citation needed]. Menachem Shelach
will in his book speak that number, of some 300,000 bodies being
found and exhumed is reliable [137] Mosa Pijade and Eduard Kardelij
used this number in the war reparations meetings. Thus the
proponents of these numbers were subsequently accused of
artificially inflating them for purpose of obtaining war
reparations. All in all, The state-commission\\\\\\\\´s report has
been only public and official document about number of victims
during 45 years of second Yugoslavia.[138]
The state\\\\\\\\´s total war casualties of 1,700,000 as presented
by Yugoslavia at the Paris Peace Treaties, were produced by a math
student, Vladeta Vučković, at the Federal Bureau of
Statistics.[139] He later admitted that his estimates included
demographic losses (i.e. also factoring in the estimated population
increase), while actual losses would have been significantly
less.[139] This number of victims has been refused by Germany
during war reparations talks.
[edit] Živanović: a Contemporary Forensic source
Between 22 and 27 June 1964 [140], exhumations of bodies and use of
sampling methods was conducted at Jasenovac by Vida Brodar and
Anton Pogačnik from Ljubljana university and Srboljub
Živanović from Novi Sad university [141]. During the
Yugoslav Wars, Serbian anthropologist, Srboljub
Živanović, published during war between Croatia and
Serbia what he claimed were the full results of the studies, which
in his words has been suppressed by Tito\\\\\\\\´s government in
the name of brotherhood and unity, in order to put less emphasis on
the crimes of the Ustashe.[142][143] According to
Živanović, the research gave strong support to the victim
counts of more than 500,000, with estimates of 700,000-800,000
being realistic and that in every mass grave there is 800
skeletons, but reports signed by all members of this sampling has
shown that seven mass graves has been excavated and that number of
skeletons has been between 2 and 48 in six graves and only in last
has been 197. On other side other surviving team member dr. Vida
Brodar that this are Živanović manipulations because
during exhumations it was never spoken about victims numbers and
for evidence she has shown copy of 1964 team report signed by Anton
Pogačnik, Srboljub Živanović and Vida
Brodar.[144]
[edit] Victim Lists
Jasenovac Memorial Area victims list (2007)[145] Nationality
Casualties
Serbs 40,251
Roma 14,750
Jews 11,723
Croats 3,583
Muslims 1,063
Slovenes 233
Others 328
Unknown 262
Total 72,193
*
The Jasenovac Memorial Area maintains a list of the names of 69,842
Jasenovac victims, including 39,580 Serbs, 14,599 Romanies, 10,700
Jews, 3,462 Croats, as well as people of some other ethnicities.
The memorial estimates total deaths at 85,000 to 100,000.[146]
o
The Belgrade Museum of the Holocaust keeps a list of the names of
80,022 victims (mostly from Jasenovac), including approximately
52,000 Serbs, 16,000 Jews, 12,000 Croats and 10,000
Romanies.[citation needed].
o
Antun Miletić, a researcher at the Military Archives in
Belgrade, has collected data on Jasenovac since 1979.[147] His list
contains the names of 77,200 victims, of which 41,936 are
Serbs.[147]
o
In 1998, the Bosniak Institute published SFR Yugoslavia\\\\\\\\´s
final List of war victims from the Jasenovac camp (created in
1992).[148] The list contained the names of 49,602 victims at
Jasenovac, including 26,170 Serbs, 8,121 Jews, 5,900 Croats, 1471
Romanies, 787 Muslims (nationality unknown), 6,792 of
unidentifiable ethnicity, and some listed simply as
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"others\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\".[148] Another list from that
institution, naming victims that died between April and November
1944, lists 4,892 names.[149]
[edit] Estimates by Holocaust institutions
The Yad Vashem center claims that over 500,000 Serbs were killed in
the NDH,[150] including those who were killed at Jasenovac, where
approximately 600,000 victims of all ethnicities were killed.[151]
The same figures are concluded by the Simon-Wiesentall center. Thus
Menachem Shelach and Israel Gutman conclude at \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the
encyclopedia of the holocaust\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\":
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Some six hundred thousand people were murdered at
Jasenovac, mostly Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, and opponents of the Ustase
regime. The number of Jewish victims was between twenty thousand
and twenty-five thousand, most of whom were murdered there up to
August 1942, when deportation of the Croatian Jews to Auschwitz for
extermination began.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" (Entry in Encyclopedia of the
Holocaust, edited by Israel Gutman, vol.1, 1995,
pp.739-740)\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
On the other hand, however, the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum, the victim figures are as follows:
It is presently estimated that the Ustaša regime murdered
between 56,000 and 97,000 people in Jasenovac between 1941 and
1945. [28]
[edit] Statistical estimates
In the 1980s, calculations were done by Serb statistician Bogoljub
Kočović, and by Croat economist Vladimir
Žerjavić, who claimed that total number of victims in
Yugoslavia was less than 1.7 million, an official estimate at the
time, both concluding that the number of victims was around one
million. Žerjavić calculated furthermore, claiming that
the number of victims in the Independent State of Croatia was
between 300,000 and 350,000, including 80,000 victims in Jasnovac,
as well as thousands of deaths in other camps and prisons.[152]
Kočović, who made an estimate of the total number of
victims, accused Žerjavić of being motivated by
nationalism.
However, these estimates have been dismissed as biased and
unreliable especially on the Serbian side. The mere 0.1% change of
the (unknown) birth rate would contribute more to the number of
victims than the Zerjavic\\\\\\\\´s claim of the number of Serbs
killed in Jasenovac (50,000) and his calculation has a deficiency
rate of 30%. Zerjavic has been dismissed as a nationalist even by
Kocovic, and his estimates of number of victims in the Bosnian war
of the 90s (300,000 killed) was three times greater than ICTY data
and Bosnian official estimates after the war, and sheds light on
problems with his credibility. Accused by some Croatian historians
of being a plagiarist and the \\\\\\\\´court
statistician\\\\\\\\´.[153].
Commentators in Serbia criticized these estimates as far too low,
since the demographic calculations assumed arbitrarily that the
growth rate for Serbs in Bosnia (which was part of the Independent
State of Croatia during the war time) was equal to the total growth
rate throughout the former Yugoslavia (1.1% at the time). According
to Serbian sources, however, the actual growth rate in this region
was 2.4% (in 1921-1931) and 3.5% (in 1949-1953). This method is
considered very unreliable by critics because there is no reliable
data on total births during this period, yet the results depend
strongly on the birth rate - just a change of 0.1% in birth rate
changes the victim count by 50,000. According to the census, the
number of Serbs between last prewar ([1931]) and first post war
(1948) census has gone up from 1,028,139 to around 1,200,000. The
Yugoslav Federal Bureau of Statistics has in 1964 created list of
World War II victims with 597,323 names and deficiency estimated at
20-30% which is giving between 750,000 and 780,000 victims.
Together with estimated 200,000 killed collaborators and quislings,
the total number would reach about one million. This Yugoslav
Federal Bureau of Statistics list was declared a state secret in
1964 and it was published only in 1989[154].
[edit] Camp officials and their fate
Some of the camp officials and their post-war fate are listed
below:
o
Miroslav Majstorović, an Ustasa infamous for his command
periods in Jasenovac and Stara-Gradiska,[155] named
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Fra Sotona\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" (father devil) for his
cruelty and Christian upbringing, was captured by the Yugoslav
communist forces, tried and executed in 1946.
o
Maks Luburić was the commandant of the Ustaska Obrana, or
Ustase defense, thus being held responsible for all crimes
committed under his supervision in Jasenovac, which he visited
two-three times a month or so.[156] fled to Spain, but was
assassinated by a Yugoslav agent in 1969.
o
Dinko Šakić fled to Argentina, but was eventually
extradited, tried and sentenced, in 1999, by Croatian authorities
to 20 years in prison, dying in prison in 2008.
o
Petar Brzica was an Ustasa officer who, in the night of August 29,
1942, allegedly slaughtered 1,360 people or so, Brzica\\\\\\\\´s
fellow Ustasa also took part in that crime, as part of a
competition of throat cutting. Brzica is also known for having
killed an inmate by beating him, on the departure of administrator
Ivica Matkovic, March 1943.[157] Brzica\\\\\\\\´s post-war fate is
unknown; he was born in 1917, so he would be 92 in 2009 if still
alive.
[edit] Later events
Jasenovac monument by Bogdan Bogdanović.
Yugoslav Marshal Josip Broz never visited the site, as he sought to
make the people of Yugoslavia forget the Ustase crimes in the name
of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"brotherhood and unity\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" in
Yugoslavia.[158] This policy continued to modern times.[159]
The Socialist Republic of Croatia adopted a new law on the
Jasenovac Memorial Area in 1990, shortly before the first
democratic elections in the country.[160] The Jasenovac Memorial
Museum was temporarily abandoned during the Yugoslav wars when it
was taken over by the rebel Republic of Serb Krajina.[161] In
November 1991, Simo Brdar, a former associate director of the
Memorial, stole the documentation from the museum and brought it to
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Brdar kept the documents until 2001, when
he transferred them to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
with the help of SFOR and the government of Republika Srpska.
Croatian president Franjo Tudjman made an official visit to the
site in 1995.[162]
The New York City Parks Department, the Holocaust Park Committee
and the Jasenovac Research Institute, with the help of US
Congressman Anthony Weiner, established a public monument to the
victims of Jasenovac in April 2005 (the sixtieth anniversary of the
liberation of the camps.) The dedication ceremony was attended by
ten Yugoslavian Holocaust survivors, as well as diplomats from
Serbia, Bosnia and Israel. It remains the only public monument to
Jasenovac victims outside of the Balkans. Annual commemorations are
held there every April.[citation needed]
The Jasenovac Memorial Museum reopened in November 2006 with a new
exhibition designed by the Croatian architect, Helena Paver
Njirić, and an Educational Center designed by the firm
Produkcija. The Memorial Museum features an interior of rubber-clad
steel modules, video and projection screens, and glass cases
displaying artifacts from the camp. Above the exhibition space,
which is quite dark, is a field of glass panels inscribed with the
names of the victims. Helena Njirić won the first prize of the
2006 Zagreb Architectural Salon for her work on the museum.[163]
The new exhibition is however seen as scandalous by some, due to
the removal of the Ustase killing instruments from the display and
a possible intent to minimise the crimes committed
there.[164][165][166]
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