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 Ustaša established Croatia’s first concentration camps in the spring of 1941. Among them were Koprivnica, Pag Island, Jadovno, Krušcica (located in Bosnia-Herzegovina), Ðakovo, Tenje, and Loborgrad.
By October 1942, the Ustaša authorities had closed all of these camps. Between August 1941 and February 1942, the Ustaša established the Jasenovac complex of camps—Krapje, Brocica, Ciglana, Kozara, and Stara Gradiška. Krapje and Brocica were closed in November 1941. Ciglana, Kozara, and Stara Gradiška were dismantled in April 1945 as the Ustaša fled the approaching Yugoslav partisans.
Younger victims of the Ustashe
Germans and Ustaša 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 Ustaša 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 Ustaša guards. In addition, Ustaša 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 Ustaša. 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.
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.
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.
