Jasenovac Memorial

The Jasenovac camp complex, located in Croatia, was one of the most notorious concentration camps of World War II. Established between August 1941 and February 1942 by the Ustaša authorities of the so-called Independent State of Croatia, Jasenovac was a site of immense suffering and brutality. The camp was primarily used to isolate and murder Jews, Serbs, Roma, and other non-Catholic minorities, as well as Croatian political and religious opponents of the regime.

Jasenovac was not a single camp but a complex of five detention facilities along the Sava River, about 60 miles south of Zagreb. The largest of these centers, Jasenovac was a string of camps where it is estimated that between 77,000 and 99,000 people were murdered between 1941 and 1945. The victims included between 45,000 and 52,000 Serbs, 12,000 to 20,000 Jews, 15,000 to 20,000 Roma, and 5,000 to 12,000 ethnic Croats and Muslims.

The conditions in Jasenovac were horrendous. Prisoners received minimal food, and shelter and sanitary facilities were grossly inadequate. The guards cruelly tortured, terrorized, and murdered prisoners at will. The camp complex management spared those Jews who possessed special skills or training, such as physicians, electricians, carpenters, and tailors. In two deportation operations, in August 1942 and in May 1943, Croat authorities permitted the Germans to transfer most of Croatia’s surviving Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

As the Partisan Resistance Movement approached Jasenovac in late April 1945, several hundred prisoners rose against the camp guards. Many of the prisoners were killed, and a few managed to escape. The guards murdered most of the surviving prisoners before dismantling the last three Jasenovac camps in late April. The Partisans overran Jasenovac in early May 1945.

Today, the Jasenovac Memorial Site serves as a place of remembrance and education. It stands as a testament to the victims of the Ustaša regime’s brutal policies and as a warning against the dangers of fascism and intolerance. The site includes a museum and various memorials, preserving the memory of those who suffered and died in the camp and educating future generations about the importance of human rights and the need to combat hatred and discrimination.