Skip to comments.
Balkan 'Auschwitz' haunts Croatia
bbc.co.uk ^
| Monday, 25 April, 2005, 17:03 GMT 18:03 UK
| BBC
Posted on 05/05/2005 10:25:27 AM PDT by Destro
click here to read article
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-51 next last
No wonder the Serbs did not want to live under Croat-Muslim rule.
1
posted on
05/05/2005 10:25:28 AM PDT
by
Destro
To: Destro
To: Destro; mac_truck; fortheDeclaration; IAF ThunderPilot; sheik yerbouty; TexConfederate1861; ...
Jasenovac - Horror in Croatia Jasenovac the third largest concentration camp of WWII in Nazi occupied Europe.
The Yugoslav ethnic wars of the 1990's were an extension of World War Two. In many cases the same uniforms and insignias were worm by the various Yugoslavian combatants.
Croatian fascist leader Ante Pavelic makes his first state visit to Nazi Germany, June 16th, 1941. From left to right: Pavelic, Hitler, Hermann Goering.
Hitler greeting the Ante Pavelic, the self-styled poglavnik (führer) of pro-Nazi wartime Croatia (1941-photo)
Recruitment Poster for Croatian and Bosnian Muslim SS Divisions In February 1943, SS leader Heinrich Himmler established two Croatian-Bosnian Muslim SS divisions: the 13th "Handschar" and the 23rd "Kama" Waffen SS divisions. Unsuccessful in their main task - to defeat Tito's Partisans - "it confined itself chiefly to massacring and pillaging the defenseless [Serb] Christians." - from John Keegan's Waffen SS - The Asphalt Soldiers, 1970. The recruitment poster above reads: Croatians of Herzeg-Bosnia! Your Great Leaders Adolf Hitler and the Fuhrer Dr. Ante Pavelic CALL UPON YOU TO DEFEND YOUR HOMES ENLIST IN THE VOLUNTEER CROATIAN SS DIVISIONS
An Ustasa guard stands next to a watch tower in the Jasenovac concentration camp.
A unit of Ustasi militia point their rifles at a group of bodies lying at their feet.
Jasenovac Camp commander Maks Luburic and Nazi Lieutenant Schmidt interview Jasenovac prisoners for forced labor in Nazi munitions factories in Germany at Jasenovac on June 12th, 1942. Thousands of Serbs and Yugoslav Jews who were forced to work in Nazi wartime industry have never received a penny in compensation from the official Claims Commission. (Photo courtesy of Marko Rucnov)
Muslim Grand Mufti Amin Al Husseini in Croatia with Croatian Nazi leaders in the early forties. With their help, he founded the Bosnian Nazi Division called the Hanzar, made up exclusively of Bosnian/Yugoslav Muslims, and perpetrated the genocide of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies. These historic moments are at the root of today's conflict in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kosovo and the rest of the former Yugoslavia.
In late 1943, members of the Croatian Division were issued with SS uniforms. Instead of the SS collar tab a special collar tab consisting of a hand holding a Scimitar with a swastika. The sword has historically been the symbol of Bosnia, an example of the collar tab is shown above.
Official Ustashe ceremony with Jasenovac Camp Commander Maks Luburic (second from left), Croation Ustashe Fuhrer Ante Pavelic, German Nazi representative Gen. Glaise von Horstenan, and Ustashe leader Kvartnik. Ante Pavelic escaped being tried for war crimes and died in Spain in 1959.
As a clerical-fascist state, the Catholic clergy were integrated into the highest levels of government. Above, Zagreb Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac (far right) officiates at a pro-Nazi Croatian state ceremony in 1941.
One of the central Jasenovac camps, "Ciglane" (the brick factory), as it appeared after the departure of the Ustashe in April 1945. (Photo courtesy of Marko Rucnov)
Jasenovac-victims
The Ustaa established Croatias first concentration camps in the spring of 1941. Among them were Koprivnica, Pag Island, Jadovno, Krucica (located in Bosnia-Herzegovina), Ðakovo, Tenje, and Loborgrad.
By October 1942, the Ustaa authorities had closed all of these camps. Between August 1941 and February 1942, the Ustaa established the Jasenovac complex of campsKrapje, Brocica, Ciglana, Kozara, and Stara Gradika. Krapje and Brocica were closed in November 1941. Ciglana, Kozara, and Stara Gradika were dismantled in April 1945 as the Ustaa fled the approaching Yugoslav partisans.
Younger victims of the Ustashe
Germans and Ustaa killed approximately 32,000 Jews from Croatia between 1941 and 1945. The precise number of Jews murdered in the Jasenovac complex is not known, but estimates range from 8,000 to 20,000 victims. These numbers do not include Jews whom the Ustaa authorities turned over to the Germans for deportation to Auschwitz and other camps.
Many of the camp inmates died of starvation, exposure, and disease, or were murdered by the Ustaa guards. In addition, Ustaa authorities handed over approximately 7,000 Jews from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to the Nazis for deportation to Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, and other camps.
Ustashi search and plunder property of newly arrived prisoners at yje Jasenovac concentration camp.
Property plundered from internees by Ustashi at Jasenovac concentration camp (to be shared by guards).
Statistics for Romani victims are difficult to assess, as there are no firm estimates of their number in prewar Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The best estimates calculate the number of Romani victims at about 26,000, of whom between 8,000 and 15,000 perished in Jasenovac.
Slavko Kvaternik, Commander in Chief of the military of the pro-Axis 'Independent State of Croatia', saluting during an outdoor ceremony. Circa 1941 - 1945
Ustasi militia execute prisoners near the Jasenovac concentration camp. Circa 1941-1945
German General Major Friedrich Stahl stands alongside an UstasI officer and Serb Chetnik Commander Rade Radic in central Bosnia Circa 1941-1945
Ustasi militia stand guard as a long column of women carrying bundles proceeds along the main street of a town during a deportation action.
There are only loose estimates for the number of Croats murdered by the Ustaa. This group included political and religious opponents of the regime, both Catholic and Muslim. Between 5,000 and 12,000 Croats are believed to have died in Jasenovac.
1998-Croatia seeks extradition of Nazi in Argentina (BBC)
Jasenovac Survivor Lilijana Ivanisovic recounts how Ustashi guards "separated babies from their mothers' breasts and threw them into pits." : source
German soldiers, aided by Ustasi collaborators, lead a column of Serbs to the Sabac internment camp during anti-partisan "cleansing" operations in the Macva region.
Not all Croats were pro-Nazi. Portrait of Croatian rescuer Ivan Vranetic, who has been recognized by Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Among the Nations.
3
posted on
05/05/2005 12:26:48 PM PDT
by
M. Espinola
(Freedom is never free)
To: Destro
Thanks for the informative post.
4
posted on
05/05/2005 12:51:31 PM PDT
by
Lion in Winter
(Getting old is NOT for sissies.... trust me, I know!)
To: M. Espinola
5
posted on
05/05/2005 12:58:51 PM PDT
by
nikola
(I've donated. Have you? http://www.minutemanproject.com/Donations.html)
To: M. Espinola
Thanks for posting the pictures. Some were especially shocking:
Those children, the women being herded like cattle through woodlands.... and the executions done by the very young looking militia... shocking!!
Look at those vicious fellows, muslims apparently holding their knives and guns over their victims( Serbs? Jews? Gypsies?)!! HOW AWFUL.
Now, what is the rst of the story on all those clergy in that one picture with the Nazis?? An Archbishop?? How dreadful.
6
posted on
05/05/2005 1:02:33 PM PDT
by
Lion in Winter
(Getting old is NOT for sissies.... trust me, I know!)
To: MD_Willington_1976
I second your thoughts!
BTTT
7
posted on
05/05/2005 1:03:43 PM PDT
by
Lion in Winter
(Getting old is NOT for sissies.... trust me, I know!)
To: jb6; ApplegateRanch; Romanov; Agrarian
Hey, guys take a looks at this WWII stuff. Rough stuff...
8
posted on
05/05/2005 1:07:53 PM PDT
by
Lion in Winter
(Getting old is NOT for sissies.... trust me, I know!)
To: U S Army EOD; sergey1973; Alouette; SJackson; dennisw; kosta50
9
posted on
05/05/2005 1:14:54 PM PDT
by
Lion in Winter
(Getting old is NOT for sissies.... trust me, I know!)
To: M. Espinola
Great post. The Croatian and Hungarian Catholics were exceedingly evil in WW2 as they out Nazied the Nazis. The Germans were revulsed by their barbarism against Serbs and Jews.
10
posted on
05/05/2005 1:57:30 PM PDT
by
dennisw
(2¢ plain)
To: Lion in Winter
Thanks Lion in Winter. Another terrible and not well publicized chapter of WWII. Hitler knew how to manipulate ethinic and historical hatreds and he used ethnic strifes to secure the position of the Third Reich in Yugoslavia and Soviet Union.
11
posted on
05/05/2005 2:14:31 PM PDT
by
sergey1973
(Russian American Political Blogger, Arm Chair Strategist)
To: dennisw
Off topic but I just noticed your tag line.... 2 cent plain...
I have not heard that in years. My cousin from the Bronx, near the Botanical Gardens always said it was NOT his favorite!! LOL! That guy had such a sweet tooth... that's why it wasn't... I tell ya!
2 cent plain.... LOL!!
12
posted on
05/05/2005 2:20:19 PM PDT
by
Lion in Winter
(Getting old is NOT for sissies.... trust me, I know!)
To: Lion in Winter
2¢ plain is plain old seltzer without any syrup. That's what I think it is. The man who wrote the book by that name was Harry Golden, a real rascal and the publisher of the Carolina Israelite.
13
posted on
05/05/2005 3:15:29 PM PDT
by
dennisw
(2¢ plain)
To: dennisw
That is EXACTLY what it is. Plain seltzer water. We drink it at our house all the time. We get it in liter bottles from Publix super market. They favor some of the varities with lemon/lime or rasberry. But there is no sugar, just a hint of flavor. We have buy drinking water anyway... we live in FLORIDA, after all. So why not get a little fizz with it!!
Sorry never heard of the author or his publication, though.
14
posted on
05/05/2005 4:23:59 PM PDT
by
Lion in Winter
(Getting old is NOT for sissies.... trust me, I know!)
To: Lion in Winter
I often felt like we were on the wrong side when Clinton sent in the troops.
15
posted on
05/05/2005 7:04:05 PM PDT
by
U S Army EOD
(My US Army daughter out shot everybody in her basic training company.)
To: mark502inf
This is the part where you are supposed to come in and tell us that it was really the Serbs who did this to themselves. Be consistent, at least.
16
posted on
05/05/2005 9:14:02 PM PDT
by
FormerLib
(Kosova: "land stolen from Serbs and given to terrorist killers in a futile attempt to appease them.")
To: Lion in Winter
Thanks for the ping. Glad I had time to digest dinner before looking at some of those photos, and following links.
17
posted on
05/05/2005 9:49:27 PM PDT
by
ApplegateRanch
(The world needs more work horses, and fewer Jackasses!)
To: nikola; Lion in Winter; All
Thank you for your comments. I felt this rather relatively unknown theater of World War Two & Shoah history should be brought to the attention of the FR readership.
Remember although some of the photos were rather shocking, there are others which are far worse.
"Those children, the women being herded like cattle through woodlands.... and the executions done by the very young looking militia... shocking!!"
I believe all of us can clearly recall identical film footage and news photos of the ethnic factions seeking revenge on each other during the Balkan wars of the 1990's.
The different sides in the former Yugoslavia once again set up 'transit refugee centers' where thousands of 'Yugoslavs' were slaughtered by enemy 'Yugoslav' ethnic militias.
Image: The fracturing of Yugoslavia along ethnic lines began several years after Tito's death and has been characterized by particularly vicious hatred, violence, and a program of ethnic cleansing. Whereas Bosnia was the site of much of this conflict in the early 1990s, at the end of the millenium, Kosovo became another new killing fields. In this photo, a young Bosnian Muslim man is doused with water by two Serb police after being thrown out a window.(credit: by arrangement with WideWorld Photos/AP)
History demonstrates it repeats itself unless caught in time.
18
posted on
05/06/2005 12:38:41 AM PDT
by
M. Espinola
(Freedom is never free)
To: Lion in Winter
I live in FL too. Those Publixx lightly flavored seltzers are good. Those carbonated (CO2) bubbles are good for digestion etc
19
posted on
05/06/2005 12:47:03 AM PDT
by
dennisw
(2¢ plain)
To: Lion in Winter; dennisw
Harry Golden is a favorite of my dad, who used to own several of Golden's books. One of them was entitled "For 2c Plain." I read a few of Golden's books when I was in college 25 years ago, and enjoyed him; he was a good humorist and observer of life.
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-51 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson