Croatia

 

General

    In April, 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by German, Hungarian, Italian and Bulgarian troops.  The country was then divided into several parts, including and independent state of Croatia, which consisted of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The new state was run by Ante Pavelic, the leader of the Ustase movement and a puppet of the Nazis.  Terror against the Jews began immediately.  The first concentration camp was established in May, 1941.  By the end of the year, about two-thirds of the Jewish population had been imprisoned.  Many of these Jews were killed in the Jasenovac camp, and in 1942, deportations to Auschwitz were commenced.  By and large, only those Croatian Jews escaping to the Italian zone survived the war.

Camps

 Jasenovac--  Jasenovac, together with the nearby camp of Stara Gradiska, was the principal concentration camp in Croatia.  It was a complex consisting of five camps about 60 miles from the Croatian capital of Zagreb. About 100,000 persons were killed there, including 20,000 out of 25,000 of Croatia's prewar Jewish population.  This item is a pre-printed camp stationery card, postmarked Jasenovac, July 23, 1943, with a Ustasza violet censor stamp addressed to the inmate's mother in Zemun. Printed instructions state that: "Writing is a privilege rewarding good work and earns the rights to receive parcels."  Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Jasenovac" in the left frame to return.

Jasenovac_1_1.jpg (82850 bytes)  Jasenovac_1_2.jpg (72649 bytes)

  Lobor-Grad--  Lobor-Grad was a concentration camp located in northern Croatia. The camp was set up in September 1941 and dismantled in October 1942. It served as a camp for women and children. In May 1942, the women and children prisoners were deported to Auschwitz.  Below are thumbnails of a postcard postmarked April 25, 1942 from Lobor-Grad to the "Relico" committee in Switzerland acknowledging receipt of two parcels.  Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Lobor-grad" in the left frame to return.

Loborgrad_1_1.jpg (67274 bytes)  Loborgrad_1_2.jpg (78122 bytes)

    Stara Gradiska--  Stara Gradiska, together with the nearby camp of Jasenovac, was the principal concentration camp in Croatia.  Below are thumbnails of two postcards from Stara Gradiska.  The first is postcard postmarked June 20, 1943, from Stara Gradiska to Zagreb.  The second is an official postcard dated August 9, 1943 from Stara Gradiska.

Stara_1_1.jpg (69639 bytes)  Stara_1_2.jpg (77230 bytes)  Stara_2_1.jpg (82171 bytes)  Stara_2_2.jpg (79531 bytes)

References

Encyclopedia Judaica, CD-Rom Edition, Keter Publishing

Museum of Tolerance On Line Learning Center

Copyright © 2002 Edward Victor