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Hell on Earth: Concentration Camp Jasenovac
The forgotten concentration camp that shocked and disgusted the Nazis.
Disclaimer: The following article contains graphic depictions of torture, murder and acts of brutality against men, women and children. Please be advised.
White swans float past, dragonflies flit from leaf to leaf.
The banks of the River Sava are lush and verdant, grass draping the shores.
One can witness the sun shimmering on the water as it quietly flows.
It’s hard to imagine such an idyllic place as the site of one of the worst atrocities in history, yet a mere handful of decades ago one could witness an entirely different sight — the river shore thick with countless corpses, the waters running red with blood.
For just beyond the banks lay the site of the fourth largest concentration camp system of World War II: Jasenovac (yasen-novatz).
The name in English means ‘ashwood forest’, which is a misnomer.
A more suitable name would be ‘Klaonica’.
Slaughterhouse.
In the spring of 1941, World War II came to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. On orders from Adolf Hitler, German and Italian forces invaded the central European nation, overthrowing the incumbent government, elements of which refused to join the Nazi regime.
This set the stage for the Ustaše-Croatian Revolutionary Movement to seize the reins of power. Also known as the Ustaše (oosta-sheh), they governed the Nazi puppet-state installed after the invasion, the Independent State of Croatia.
Borne out of violent zeal, the Ustaše were a fascist, ultra-nationalistic organization with the goal of a ‘pure’ Croatia. One Nation. One Church. One Race.
Acting upon the centuries of perceived prejudice foisted upon them by their ancestors, the Ustaše avenged this upon their former Serb countrymen.
