Jagiellonian University

Department of History

Ethnic Cleansing and Displacement in the Modern World - Most Contemporary

DISPLACEMENT OF SERBIAN POPULATION

FROM INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA

DURING THE WW2

Student: Ante Kolovrat Professor: Christopher Lash

Krakow, January, 2016.

In this paper I have dealt with the theme of the Independent Croatian State and the

persecution of Serbs by the Ustasha government. I have displayed components essential to the

history of that country, thus gave an introduction to the understanding of the processes of the

government. It primarily relates to policies for creating a pure Croatian ethnic territory and

consequently necessarily solving the Serbian and Jewish issues. By studying literature I tried

to explain the influence of two forces which led the Ustasha to power, Germany and Italy. The

paper also discusses the newly established state sovereignty, its real independence in making

important decisions.

2
 2. April War

Until march 1941. Germany was not interested in resolving the Yugoslavian question

if Yugoslavia plays an assigned role akin to German interests. 1The planned military operations

saw Balkans as an area that was supposed to protect the background of the south wing of the

German Army Eastern Front of possible side attack from British forces. In late 1940. and

early 1941. Yugoslavia was in the focus of the German diplomacy. Hitler demanded from

Yugoslavian government that Yugoslavia enter the Tripartite pact. Finally, on 25 March 1941.

the president of the Yugoslav government Dragiša Cvetković and Foreign Minister

Dr.Aleksandar Marković-Cincar signs the accession of Yugoslavia to the Tripartite Pact.

March 27, 1941. amounted to a coup. They overthrown Cvetković-Maček government and

removed governorship.3They published accession to the throne of Peter II. After that Hitler

decided to attack Yugoslavia.

3. The attack on Yugoslavia

For Hitler it was important to attack in order to eliminate even the slightest possibility

that British forces would establish base in Yugoslavia and Greece. Directive 25 ordered the

attack on Yugoslavia and the destruction of a country. German planes and ground forces

began their assault on April 6 while German agents also executed a subversive actions. The

Yugoslav army was not able to stop these violent attacks. 4 Demoralized, without equipment,

ammunition or weapons Yugoslavian army soon capitulated. The Yugoslavia army was in

1
Matkovic, H. 1994. p. 24
2
Ibid. p. 47
3
Ibid. p. 24
4
Goldstein, I. 2008. p. 368

3
complete disarray, and on April 17th 1941. general Danilo Kalafatović signed with the

Wehrmacht an unconditional surrender.5

With the downfall of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, its territory was occupied and

divided between the Germans, Italians, Hungarians and Bulgarians. 6 The question of the

territory of the Croats emerged. The sixth point of the preliminary directive of April 12th

stands: '' Croatia will become an independent state within the ethnic borders '' and also says

that Germany would not interfere in the internal affairs. After that comes to determining the

demarcation line between the Italian and German interest zone.7

4. Foundation of the Independent Croatian State

Group of opposition members led by the former champion Croatian Party of Rights Dr.

Ante Pavelić advocated the destruction of Yugoslavia and the establishment of an independent

Croatian state. The group found refuge in Italy where Pavelić formed Ustasha organization in

order to help with the Italian violently achieve its goal. The basic idea of UHRO meaning

Ustasha - Croatian revolutionary organization was the creation of the independent Croatian

state outside the Kingdom of Yugoslavia with all available means. 8 The group consisted of

Pavelić's supporters are mostly young people, students and intellectuals with prominent

Croatian conviction. For Ustasha homeland group, which follows the program Pavelić policy

free Croatia means breaking ties with Serbia and the establishment of an independent

Croatian. They reject any agreement with Belgrade. 9It is important to note that during the

thirties of the 20th century Ustasha organization has nothing to do with the Nazis.

5
Ibid. p. 93
6
Matkovic, H. 1994, p. 25
7
Tomasevich, J. 2010. p. 57
8
http://povijest.net/v5/zivotpis/hr-zivotopisi/2008/ante-pavelic
9
Tomasevich, J. 2010. p. 55

4
 The next day after the coup in Belgrade, Mussolini summoned Ante Pavelić, the

founder of the Ustasha movement. They met on March 29th 1941. in a private residence of

Benito Mussolini at Villa Torlonia. It was their first direct meeting after twelve year Pavelić

stay in Italy. Mussolini gives Pavelić note that Italy would enable the Ustasha seizure of

power in Croatia, of course, to the satisfaction of the Italian pretensions on the east coast of

Adriatic sea. All Ustasha members, around 250 men were transferred to Pistoia, where they

were given uniforms and weapons. Pavelić then made a speech in which he emphasized that

we are facing the resurrection of the Independent Croatian State and that the liberation

struggle is at the end.10 On 15 April 1941. around 4 a.m. Pavelic and his escort of 250 Ustasha

arrived in Zagreb to a newly declared Independent State of Croatia at his new role as a

Headman (Poglavnik). With no special celebrations Headman settled in the Governor's

Palace. 11The next day he appointed the first government of the independent Croatian state.12

Slavko Kvaternik, second man in command on April 10, 1941. while the German

troops were entering Zagreb, through radio station Zagreb read the decree on the foundation

of the Independent Croatian State. New state had 115,133 square kilometers, and it had

6,966,729 inhabitants. Of these, 4,817,000 were Croats, 1 848 000 Serbs, 145,000 Germans,

70,000 Hungarians, 37.000 Slovenians, 44 267 Czechs and Slovaks.13

5. Public support

Generally there were not broad support among the people for Ustasha government.

One reason is surely that they brought to power the traditional enemies of the Croatian people,

Italians, and signed agreements and also implemented genocidal policy against the Serbian,

Jewish and Roma population, constant presence of German and Italian forces and the people had
10
Matkovic, H. 1994. p. 27
11
Tomasevich, J. 2010. p. 65
12
Matkovic, H: 1994. p. 20
13
Matkovic, H. 1994. p. 36

5
the impression that they are under constant occupation. Most of the Croatian intelligence was

hostile to the Ustasha regime. The process of reduction of support continued to the end of the

war, thanks to the strengthening of the partisan movement and the great famine, poor food

supply and galloping inflation.14

6. The structure of government

The government was made up of prominent champions of the Ustasha movement, of

which some belonged to the Homeland group, a part of the Ustasha émigrés. The head of the

government as its president was Ante Pavelić, who took over the portfolio of foreign affairs,

apparently because the new state had work to determine the boundaries, especially with Italy.

Pavelić as head of state and government made all important decisions in foreign and domestic

policy of Independent State of Croatia (NDH), appointed and dismissed all senior officials in

the apparatus of state power. He was also the supreme commander of the armed forces and is

in his jurisdiction were deployment and military command composition. As state did not have

a representative legislative body all the laws and legal provisions were brought and signed by

Headman, thus, in his hands was all power. He was most responsible for everything that

happened in the internal and external policies of State. His personality among his subordinate

Ustasha's turned into a cult. He became untouchable, and those who in any way opposed him

or expressed a different opinion were removed. Independent State of Croatia was a state

without basic law, the constitution. It had no codified document on their organization, but its

internal system was based on various state laws and regulations of the constitutional content

mostly based on the principles of the Ustasha. 15

14
Ibid. p. 397
15
[. http://povijest.net/v5/hrvatska/hrvatska-2-svjetski-rat/2011/slomljena-osovina-2

6
 7. Relationship with Italy and Germany

In newly established state thanks to demarcated border line, which passed through the

center of the country, Germany gained control of the industrial and agricultural productive

areas, while Italy left with inferior parts. Italy forced new state to give up the territory and the

loss of territory has sparked outrage among the Croatian public. With the two forces on its

territory Independent State of Croatia was a state that is by September 1943. and the

capitulation of Italy, a joint Italian-German protectorate where German influence increased

and the Italian decreased over time. The provisions of the agreement with Italy clearly pointed

to the fact that the new state is independent only in name. Although the ISC on paper was a

sovereign state, Italy and Germany have acted outside their powers, especially the army.

8. Serbs and Serb question

8.1. Croatian ethnic and historical territory

Croatian ethnic territory was also controversial for Ustashe who doubted about was the

territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian or Serbian and where it should be included on

whose territory? One of the main reasons for including territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina

to Croatia was the inclusion of Muslims as the Croatian population resulting in an increase of

the Croatian population in this territory. Ustashe in order to get Muslims to their side made

numerous concessions to them, for example, gave the building for a mosque in Zagreb. 16

Pavelić has also appointed 11 members of the Muslim Croatian Parliament in February from a

total of 147 parliamentarians. Muslims had the position of deputy prime minister and another

ministerial post in the government. However, the policy of wooing the Bosnian Muslims

failed. This showed that no Croatian nor Muslim nor Serbian solutions are possible in Bosnia

and Herzegovina and that the only possible solution is multiethnic society.

16
Ibid, p. 420

7
 8. 2. Serbian Question

At first Ustasha did not have a precise plan for what to do with the Serbian population

which represents around 30 percent of the total population in its territory. But soon they

opened the so-called Serbian question in the Independent State of Croatia. Serbian question

had to be resolved according to the principle: one-third killed, one third emigrated, a third

baptized.17 But implementation of this plan certainly would not have been possible without the

support of Germany, its military forces are arranging the first large numbers of Serbs and the

Catholic Church, which did not publicly addressed any criticism of the Ustasha regime. This

policy was based on the tenth and eleventh principle of the Ustasha who postulated that in

Croatia can rule only Croats, which means that Croatia should become mono ethnic state.

Immediately after the establishment of ISC in the press began political propaganda

against the Serbs, and at public meetings Ustasha officials and members of the government

started explaining the new state policy in relation to the Serbs, encouraged intolerance. For

example, Mile Budak in a speech in Slavonski Brod said: '' We have not only the right but also

the duty to seek from the local Orthodox population, that the population realizes what is and

accordance to that lives. Thus we have the right to speak, if anyone is a Serb it has Serbia, and

that is his country. '' 18

This did not rest only on verbal statements. Serbs right from the beginning have been

exposed to various measures of specific pressures. The use of the Cyrillic alphabet was

abolished in the name of the Serbian Orthodox faith, the order was issued for the restriction of

movement of Serbs in places of residence and command of changing the name of some places

that had Serbian feature. In Zagreb, the police in early May 1941 banned the movement of

Serbs at night, and at the same time issued an order for the eviction of Serbs from their homes

in the northern part. In some places the citizens of Orthodox religion had to wear a blue

17
Goldstein, I. 2008. p. 381
18
Matkovic, H. 1994, p. 73

8
ribbon with a capital P.19 Under the pretense of cleaning the language from Serbian influence,

regime and Office of the Croatian language starts inventing and imposing new coins for

individual words so we have munjovoz instead tram, instead car we have samovoz krugoval

instead of radio.20

All these measures were joined by more frequent dismissals of Serb authorities, arrest

and confiscation of their property. The arrests particularly affected Serbs who were prominent

in public and political life of the former Yugoslavia, intellectuals and Orthodox priests.

During this period, the Ustasha authorities approached and forced mass exodus of Serbs, even

before they were made on legislation.

8. 3. Establishment of Croatian Orthodox Church

The government of the Independent Croatian State did everything to resolve the

Serbian question, so question of religion was also discussed. Various legislative decrees were

brought in with attempt to destroy the cultural and national unity of Serbs in the Ustasha state.

On April 25th 1941. prohibits the use of Cyrillic letter and on June 14th was banned five

Orthodox school. With the persecution of the Serbian population there was also a lot of

persecution of priests. Only in 1941 the 327 Orthodox priests were prosecuted and 3 bishops

were killed along with 154 priests.21 In addition to the persecution and murder of the priests

there were desecrations and destructions of Orthodox churches and monasteries looting.

Realizing that they cannot completely solve the Serbian question, Ustasha government

decided to establish a Croatian Orthodox Church. It was established by the decree of April 3rd

1942. The head is supposed to be a bishop appointed by the Pavelić. 22 Creation of the Croatian

19
Goldstein, I. 2008. p. 378
20
Ibid. p. 73
21
Ibid. p. 589
22
Ibid. p. 602

9
Orthodox Church marked a certain shift of the Ustasha regime, not only in religious politics,

but also in the broader political relationship with the Serbs. The goal was to create a new,

more tolerant atmosphere and conditions for the numbness of conflict and enmity with the

largest minority in the ISC. It also acknowledges that it failed to solve Serbian issues.

8. 4. The Ustasha argument against the Serbs west of Drina river

A large number of Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was a thorn in the eye

for Ustasha. Their presence bothered the Croatian nationalists, both laymen and those

affiliated with the Catholic Church. Ustashas anti-Serbian policy was aimed to completely

liberating state of Serbs so that no one would have been west of the line that is supposed to

separate Serbs and Croats before the Ottomans conquered Bosnia and Herzegovina and

Croatian parts. The attitude of the Ustasha community was that the Serbs belong east of the

Drina river and north of the Sava river.23

The reasons for antiserbian policy can be found in the rise of nationalism in the 19th

century and the Austro-Hungarian policy towards Croats and Serbs on the principle divide and

rule. That created a lot of hostility between the two nations. Finally, the experience of living

in Yugoslavia was a frustrating period for many Croats. Under these conditions, the April war

in 1941. the division of the country, foreign occupation and annexation of the territory, the

emergence of the collaborationist regime and the rise of the revolutionary forces have turned

the multilateral flames of war that engulfed the people, religion, culture and ideology.24

8. 5. Forced conversion to Catholicism

23
Tomasevich, J. 2010. p. 437
24
Ibid. p. 440

10
 In the spirit of its policy towards Serbs, according to which one-third of all Serbs

should be eliminated, third emigrated and one third baptized Ustasha authorities starts the

process of conversion of Serbian Orthodox population to the Catholic faith. This process

begun immediately after the declaration of the State, as a program to create a mono-ethnic

state and two faithed. ISC has issued a legal provision on the transition from one religion to

another. In order to regulate the process of transition, church has established a special

committee of three bishops under the presidency of Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac and working

executive committee on conversion. This is an indication that the Catholic Church in Croatia

was a supporter of the Ustasha policies but with the necessary respect for the canonical rules.

But Stepinac and the Church have expressed dissatisfaction with conversion to Catholicism

for political reasons.

The overall figure of converted Serbs cannot be known with certainty because we

don't have precise records but could amount to around 250 000 people.25

8. 6. The persecution and deportation of Serbs

Due to continuous population movements across the border, particularly the Drina,

whether it was about the deportation, expulsion, so to speak voluntary individual or mass

crossings, which took place not only in the first two years of the war, it is problematic to state

the exact number of Serbian population that were displaced, expelled or fled to Serbia. Mass

deportations of Serbs began soon after the proclamation of the ISC and continued in several

stages. The first phase consisted of official propaganda which encouraged Serbs to move out

to Serbia and prepare for deportation. One of the provisions was that from April 17 which

confiscated agricultural land from the volunteers of World War. Because they were mostly

Serbs that was one of the measures to remove these volunteers colonists and thus a total of 5

25
Tomasevich, J. 2010. p. 599

11
370 Serbs were expelled. In May and June 1941, followed new phase of population

displacement.26

Agreement from July 4th between Germany and the ISC agreed relocation 260 000

Slovenians to the territory of the ISC. ISC has accepted the proposal on the condition that the

same number of Serbs moved out to Serbia. That conclusion was passed at a meeting of the

Independent Croatian State with German representatives. The deportations went in a way that

they transferred Serbs in detention camps in Bjelovar, Sisak and Požega where the first few

days were held around 25,000 Serbs27 and then transported with trains to Serbia. From town

of Mostar transports started on April 14th. The arrests were carried out mostly at night. It is

noteworthy that most of those deported Serbs had the right to the habitual residence in the

territory of Independent State of Croatia.28

There are indications that the relocation began earlier and agreed by, which caused the

dissatisfaction of the Germans. In Zagreb, the mass arrests and evictions began on July 5th in

when a total of 2,166 Serbs were arrested.29

In the first wave, till July 5th, it was planned emigration of 5000 Orthodox priests and

their families in Serbia. In the second wave, from July 10th to August 30th, it was necessary

to move about 25 000 Serbs from Srijem and Bosnia. The third wave was supposed to take

place from September 15th to October 31st 1941. and from ISC to Serbia should move about

145 000 Serbs. It is also up to 31 October 1941 in the field of ISC to Serbia should move 30

000 Serbs who had no homeland in the area of its territory. 30In Zagreb on July 4th 1941.

representatives of the German embassies and ISC authorities agreed timetable for the

transport of immigrants Slovenian and Serbian immigrants. It was agreed that on July 11th

26
Ibid. p. 442
27
Goldstein, I. 2008. p. 381
28
Tomasevich, J. 2012. p. 443
29
Goldstein, I. 2008. p. 383
30
Karakas Obradov, M. 2011. str. 803

12
1941. to start an upload of 500 Serbs alternately from the camp Bijeljina (about 5,000 people),

Sisak-Caprag (around 4000), Bjelovar (4000) and Požega (about 12,000 people).31

Heinrich Himmler as Reich Commissioner for the strengthening of the German nation,

on August 18th, 1941 ordered the suspension of all moving in the southeast of Europe. 32That

is why on August 26th was suspended emigration from the territory of the ISC. Zagreb hosted

a conference at which should determine the number of previously displaced people. Based on

these data, till June 4th in ISC to Serbia were evicted 60,000 people, then in the period to 28

August moved them 12 436 and from 28 August to 20 September another 1 674 people. It was

agreed that from Independent State of Croatia to Serbia can go another 3 200 Serbs who are in

detention camps for eviction, while the ISC should accept another 1 000 Slovinians. By the

beginning of September 1941. according to some sources, it was legally moved from ISC to

Serbia another 12 436 people, and 92 546 illegally, but that it was assumed that the number is

higher because all the people are not registered in Belgrade. Two other Serbs transports in

September dispatched to Serbia with 1128 people. Again the relocation of Slovenians and

Serbs stopped for two weeks. On 26, 27 and 28 September 1941. dispatched three transport

with a total of 1621 person. Problems are again performed when one September 26th, at

Serbia unexpectedly arrived transport of 1,200 Serbs33

Commisioner Kascheu said to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin that the ISC is no longer

able to continue the migration of Serbs in Serbia, and it is not possible to move 19 thousand

Serbs in Serbia or in the ISC to move another 38,000 Slovenians. He also warned that one

should think of the consequences of relocation, which would encourage further unrest led by

the Communists. In addition to all this would cause further economic burden to ISC which

would not be convenient for the German side. For the German side this will actually mean

31
Ibid. p. 804
32
Ibid. p. 805
33
Ibid. p. 806

13
ending of a mass resettlement in the former Yugoslav territory because of the military,

political and economic conditions no longer correspond to its interests.

However, the exodus of the Serbian population from Independent State of Croatia was

not carried out as planned. The outbreak of the uprising and partisan armed actions changed

the situation in Serbia, and the resulting difficulty in accepting immigrants. Germans did not

correspond to the acceptance of a large number of refugees from the Independent State of

Croatia, which could become the new rebels.34

During 1941. a series of legal provisions pertaining to the property of displaced

persons and persons who left the ISC and their contents says that the assets of these persons

become the property of the state.35

 Number of officially deported was 17,706 but unofficially, it is calculated that in fact

there was expelled 90,000 Serbs. Siegfried Kasche claimed that until September 20th

governments in Serbia through legal and legitimate transports deported 118,110 people. 36In

February and March 1943. according to estimates by the Serbian authorities in the summer of

1942. the total number of deportees was about 400 000 while the general attitude of the
37
profession there were 200 000. In August 1941. Assemble the Serbian authorities have

registered 180,000 refugees in its territory. According to German data, at the end of July there

were approximately 137,000 fugitives. Since there was a lot illegal immigrations in Serbia it

is considered to be the number about 180,000 and higher with which agrees historian Ivo

Goldstein.38

8. 7. Killing of Serbs: the program of physical destruction

34
Matkovic, H. 1994, p. 74
35
Karakas Obradov, M. 2011. str. 813
36
Tomasevich, J. 2010. p. 444
37
Goldstein, I. 2008. p. 382
38
Matkovic, H. 1994, p. 74

14
 There were no official orders and records of the killing of the Serbian population but it

can be stated genocidal policy towards the Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia. Author

Jozo Tomasevich gives five different evidence supporting this policy. These are: speeches of

high Ustasha officials contain many threats to Serbs, imprecisely defined laws on the

protection of the Croatian people and Croatian state by which whole Serbian population could

be put outside the law. Then we have the German and Italian reports on the activities of the

Ustasha government, and there are also letters and excerpts of the clergy and various

testimonies of people who survived the war and the camps.

Mass killings began in late April 1941. Lorković informed Kasche that on April 30th

near Bjelovar of killing 11 Croats by Serbs and Croats in retaliation killed 192 Serbs in the

neighboring village Gudovac. The following crime occurred in Glina where on May 13th 260

Serbs were liquidated. The third crime occurred in the village of Korita in Eastern

Herzegovina, where they killed 133 Serbian civilians. On May 5th in Banja Luka there were

15 people arrested including Bishop Platon Jovanović who was killed. Three days after the

great Serbian holiday of St. George mass slaughter of about 400 Serbian peasants was

committed from the nearby village of Veljun. In June and July more frequent killings through

Lika, Kordun, Banija, the Dalmatian hinterland. In three villages in Lika 279-330 people were

killed, for the first time, women, children and the elderly were hurt.39

It is significant that after Pavelic's meeting with Hitler on June 6th, started worse

Ustasha measures of persecution and killing.40After that visit, all restrictions on the

persecution of Serbs were lifted and many were killed in the punitive expeditions and

rampage by Ustasha armed forces.

39
Tomasevich, J. 2010. p. 383
40
Ibid. p. 447

15
 A key component of this terror were the concentration camps chartered throughout its

territory. The first were established in the summer of 1941. which is further bolstered by the

provision on November 25th on the deportation of disloyal and dangerous people to

compulsory detention in concentration camps. There were a total of 20 large and medium-

sized camps of which the largest was a complex of Jasenovac camp. 41To this day the number

of victims of Jasenovac camp is not known. According to Vladimir Žerjavić the lives of 45 to

52 thousand Serbs wre lost, while the Jasenovac Memorial Commission in 2007 says that

there is 40,351 Serbian victims,then we have the results of the Commission for a list of

victims of SIV, Yugoslavia from 1964 which counted 26 170 people killed and the Museum of

Genocide Victims coming the figure of 77 000 to 81,000.42During September and October

1941 in Jasenovac occurred number of individual crimes. The Ustashas tortured, killed and

plundered many wealthy and less wealthy Serbs. Olga Prpić in 1942, said to Commissariat for

Refugees in Belgrade at the beginning of 1942 that the Ustasha started to clean the village on

the right bank of the Sava - in neighboring Bosnia.43

Legal basis for arrests and transports are statutory provision on the deportation of

disloyal and dangerous people to compulsory detention in concentration and labor camps

from 25 November 1941. at which a decision on referral to compulsory detention brings

Ustasha Police as a branch of the Ustasha Surveillance Service. According to this provision,

the duration of detention in concentration and labor camps may not be shorter than 3 months

and more than 3 years.44 

8. 8. Jasenovac

41
Ibid. p. 448
42
Geiger, V. 2011. p. 725
43
Škiljan, F. 2007. str. 30
44
Ibid. p. 50

16
 The system of concentration camps Jasenovac was the largest death camp in occupied

Europe during World War II that the entire time of its existence acted without the participation

of the German Nazi army and its police forces. Camp was managed by Ustasha defense,

military unit organized as special part of the Ustasha Surveillance Service-UNS, since the

beginning of 1943. under control of RAVSIGUR, the Directorate for Public Order and Safety.

Jasenovac was a multi-purpose camp, served as an assembly, penal, labor and as a transit and

prison camp. All the time it was a central death camp for the entire ISC. Through camp paseed

about 150 000 people of whom were killed or died from torture, starvation and disease around

90,000 prisoners.45It existed for 44 months and so far there are listed 82 073 victims, and it is

realistic that there are still 10 percent casualties. According to the census there are

46,740,Serbs, 16,131 Roma, 12,999 Jews, 4,208 Croats, Muslims in 1116, 263 Slovenians and

other unknown. Srbs, Roma and Jews were murdered because of their race, nationality or

religious affiliation, and the Croats and Muslims because of opposition to the ruling regime.

8. 9. Decline and number of victims

Massacres occurred in Draksenić, Međeđi, Gradina, Čukljincu and Demerovcu. After

emptying villages, Ustashas forced the Serbs from Jasenovac to help them rob. The Ustasha

wanted to clear out all the Serbian villages between Sisak and Stara Gradiška, along the Sava

River in order to settle there the Croats from the backward areas or areas threatened by

partisans.46 During the entire war, the camp commander was Vjekoslav Maks Luburić. How

the massacres were spreading, many Serbs went fleeing to the mountains to save themselves

and some have begun to fight. Due to general violence, persecution and terror against Serbs,

in the public are ever more present opponents of the ruling authorities eventually formed

armed resistance groups which were ready to fight against the Ustasha. It should be noted that

45
Goldstein, S.,Goldstein, I. 2011. p. 24
46
Ibid. p. 43

17
all the killings and persecution of Serbs greatly contributed to the creation of the Chetnik

movement, particularly in the region of Knin and strengthening partisan movement. Policy of

persecution and killing of Serbs continued throughout the war, but during 1943. significantly

reduced number of people killed, mostly due to the strengthening of the partisan movement

and the pressure of the Germans who wanted to calm the situation in this territory to be able

to send as many people on the Eastern front, or to work in Germany and still take advantage

of the economy.

Although the number of Serbs killed under the regime of the Ustasha government

cannot be determine with certainty, the author Ivo Goldstein believes that only in the camp of

Jasenovac was between 45 000 and 53 000 victims. 47According to the assessment Museum of

Genocide Victims in camps around 101 400 and 106 700 Serbs lost their lives. 48

9. Conclusion

By the foundation of the Independent Croatian State on April 10th, centuries old

aspirations of the Croatian people for an independent state came true. Ustashe headed by the

head of state Ante Pavelić came to power with the help of the Axis powers, Germany and

Italy. In this light should be considered their four-year reign between 1941 and 1945, initially
47
Goldstein, I. 2008. p. 384
48
Geiger, V. 2011. p. 719

18
greeted with approval of the public and church. The Ustasha soon showed the true nature of

their regime. I say to the regime because once they came to power, they brought a series of

legislative decrees for the purpose of excluding the part of Croatian citizens in public life, set

up the authority, with the only man at the head of the pyramid of power that makes all the

decisions. Hostility towards the Serb community Ustasha expressed from the very beginning,

and similarly to the Jews that eventually resulted in the forced deportation, persecution and

murder of a great many of them. The most important component of this terror was a system of

concentration camps, some of which were death camps and the largest was a complex of five

camps in Jasenovac. Although the numbers of victims of both vary from author to author,

research to research, there is no doubt that Independent Croatian State had genocide policy

towards these nations. As a protectorate of the two powers Italy and Germany, Ustashe soon

lost public support. The current state of Croatia, which is built on antifascist principles as it

says in the Croatian Constitution, must distance himself from any connection with the Ustasha

regime and the Independent Croatian State. This country was not independent, did not have

widespread support of the Croatian public and, as such, cannot and must not be a role model

for Croatian nationalists. Personally, I express condemnation of all crimes committed during

that time.

10. Literature:

Geiger, V. (2011). Ljudski gubici Hrvatske u Drugom svjetskom ratu koje su prouzročili

“okupatori i njihovi pomagači” Brojidbeni pokazatelji (procjene, izračuni, popisi). Časopis

za suvremenu povijest, no. 3., 699.-749.

Goldstein, I. (2008). Povijest: Hrvatska povijest. Europapress holding: Zagreb.

19
Goldstein, S. i Goldstein, I. (2011). Jasenovac i Bleiburg nisu isto. Novi Liber: Zagreb

Hajdarović, M. (2008). Ante Pavelić. (shttp://povijest.net/v5/zivotpis/hr-zivotopisi/2008/ante-

pavelic/(19.01.2016.)).

Karakaš Obradov, M. (2011). Migracije srpskog stanovništva na području Nezavisne Države

Hrvatske tijekom 1941. godine. Časopis za suvremenu povijest, no. 3., 801.-826.

Matković, H. (1994). Povijest nezavisne države Hrvatske. Naklada P.I.P. Pavičić: Zagreb,

Odak, D. (2011). Slomljena Osovina (2) – Travanjski rat.

(http://povijest.net/v5/hrvatska/hrvatska-2-svjetski-rat/2011/slomljena-osovina-2/

(23.01.2016.)).

Škiljan, F. (2007). Stradanje Srba u Jasenovcu u Drugom svjetskom ratu, Pro tempore, no.

4.,40.-45.

Tomasevich, J.(2010). Rat i revolucija u Jugoslaviji 1941-1945 Okupacija i kolaboracija.

Europapress holding i Novi Liber: Zagreb.

20