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The third largest concentration
camp of the World War II nazi occupied Europe was founded by infamous Ustashi.
Its name was:
JASENOVAC
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HOLOCAUST,
Vol. 2, page 739, entry: "Jasenovac" (Integral quote:)
Jasenovac, the largest
concentration and extermination camp in Croatia. Jasenovac was in fact
a complex of several subcamps, in close proximity to each other,
on bank of the Sava River, about 63 miles (100km) south of Zagreb. The
women's camp of Stara Gradiska, which was farther away, also belonged to
the complex.
Jasenovac was established in August 1941
and was dismantled only in April 1945. The creation of the camp and its
management and supervision were entrusted to Department II of the Croatian
Security Police (Ustaska Narodna Sluzba, UNS), headed by Vjekoslav (Maks)
Luburic, who was personally responsible for everything that happened there.
Scores of Ustase (Croatian fascists) served in the camp. The cruelest was
former priest Miroslav Filipovic-Majstorovic, who killed scores of prisoners
with his own hands.
SOME
SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE WERE MURDERED AT JASENOVAC, mostly Serbs, Jews,
Gypsies, and opponents of the ustasa regime. The number of
Jewish victims was between twenty 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. Jews were sent to Jasenovac
from all parts of Croatia - from Zagreb, from Sarajevo, and from other
cities and smaller towns. On their arrival most 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. The living conditions
in the camp were extremely severe: a meager diet, deplorable accommodations,
A PARTICULARLY CRUEL REGIME, AND UNBELIEVABLY CRUEL
BEHAVIOR BY THE USTASHE GUARDS. The conditions improved only for
short periods - during visits by delegations, such as the press delegation
that visited in February 1942 and Red Cross delegation in June 1944.
The acts of murder
and of the cruelty in the camp reached their peak in the late summer of
1942, when tens of thousands of Serbian villagers were deported to Jasenovac
from the area of the fighting against the partisans in the Kozara Mountains.
Most of the men were killed in Jasenovac. The women were sent for forced
labor in Germany, and the children were taken from their mothers, some
were murdered and others were dispersed in orphanages throughout the country.
In April 1945 the partisan army approached
the camp. In an attempt to erase traces of the atrocities, the Ustashe
blew up all the installations and killed most of the inmates. An escape
attempt by the prisoners failed, and only a few survived.
(End quote)
The above entry is accompanied by a map
of The Independent State of Croatia (which included then future Tito's
Socialist Republics of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.It also included
portion of Serbia. The monstrous state stretched all the way to the gates
of Belgrade).
Also, the entry is accompanied with a picture
of "Father Devil". Under a smily face in Ustase uniform the caption
says:
[Quote]
The former priest Miroslav Filipovic-Majstorovic, a member of Jasenovac
camp staff, in his Ustasa uniform.
[End quote]
There you have it, the dry description of
Jasenovac. As dry as can be. The exact number of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies
that perished at this particular location may never be known. This does
not relief the pain. Every life is precious, some say, and thus the numbers
are not that important. The point still remains: this was, by many accounts,
the third largest concentration camp in the occupied Europe. Also, it was
one of the cruelest.
Jews suffered through many camps in WWII.
Having that in mind, the terms here used: "a particularly cruel regime
and unbelievably cruel behavior by Ustase guards" give a good picture
of the monstrosities perpetrated in Jasenovac.
And ..."only a few survived".
Many books written after WWII, but well
before this war mention Jasenovac. Here are some:
Professor Dr. Edmond Paris: "Genocide
in Satellite Croatia", a book published in 1961, 1962,
1990... says on page 132 (Quote:)
...It is estimated
that a total of about 200,000 people met their death [in Jasenovac] during
1941-1942 [alone!]. Crowds of Jewish children
were BURNED ALIVE in the old brick ovens, transformed into crematories.
Vjekoslav Luburic, commander-in-chef of
all the Croatian camps, announced the great "efficiency" of this
slaughterhouse at a ceremony on October 9th, 1942,... During the banquet
which followed, he reported with pride: "We
have slaughtered here at Jasenovac more people than the Ottoman Empire
was able to do during its occupation of Europe".
[End Quote]
And those were only the beginnings of Jasenovac...
A British author
Baron Avro Manhattan in his
book "The
Vatican's Holocaust" published in 1986 and 1988 says:
Just
ONE NIGHT (page 48):
[Quote]
In the concentration camp at Jasenovac, on the night of August 29, 1942,
orders were issued for executions. Bets
were made as to who could liquidate the largest number of inmates. Peter
Brzica cut the throats of 1,360 prisoners with a specially sharp butcher's
knife. Having been proclaimed the prize-winner of the competition, he was
elected King of the Cut-troats. A gold watch, a silver service, and a roasted
sucking pig and wine were his other rewards...
[End quote]
Page 39: [Quote]
Jasenovac Concentration
Camp distinguished itself because of the number of young inmates sent there.
In 1942 the camp held over 24,000 [Serb] Orthodox youngsters. Twelve thousand
of them were murdered in cold blood by the Commandant.
[End quote]
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Last revised: April 4, 1997
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