The Jasenovac concentration camp, often described as the “Auschwitz
of the Balkans” for the raw brutality exhibited by its
fascist commanders and guards who ran the camp from 1941 to
1945 in the Independent State of Croatia, continues to stir
strong emotions. But, shamefully, often the wrong ones and
for the wrong reasons.
Instead of grief and sorrow, a morbid debate about the number
and ethnic background of the victims, many of whom died most
brutally by having their throats cut with a special knife
known as the “Srbosjek” or “Serbcutter,” is
still overshadowing the darkest chapter of Croatia’s
history.
The latest episode, reflecting the confusion surrounding
this unfortunate story, happened in Spain, where a TV documentary
about Croatian fascist commander Maks Luburic, known as “Maks
the Butcher” who fled to Spain after World Wwar II,
failed to mention Serbs as victims of the Jasenovac camp.
Spanish TV reacted by issuing an apology to Serbs. They
had vehemently criticized that the documentary mentioned “partisans,
political opponents, jews and gypsies” as victims but
failed to mention Serbs, who constituted the majority of
those killed in the camp.
The Serbs’ reaction can be understood as the failure
to mention them as victims is opening old wounds. Since the
camp was bulldozed in 1945 by the Communists, Croats and
Serbs have failed to close the chapter of this bloody episode
of their history. Instead, they have been engaged in a cynical
numbers game.
While some Croat historians have put the number of victims
killed in Jasenovac as low as 50,000 persons, some Serbian
scholars have put the figure close to 1 million or even higher.
Unfortunately, there is no official data confirmed by a trustworthy
third party, even though there are many serious efforts by
both Serb and Croat historians to establish the truth.
“We have never been able to carry out comprehensive
research,” said Efraim Zuroff, coordinator of Nazi
war crimes research for the Simon Wiesenthal Center and director
of its Israel office.
The Holocaust historian, who said that many mass graves
at the site have still not been opened, says that Croatian
claims that some 50,000 people were killed “is a gross
underestimation” and that he understand that such low-balling “angers” Serbs.
But, he says, Serb estimates of around 700,000 may “possibly” be
exaggerated, too.
Since no one knows for sure, many Croats and Serbs feel
invited to throw in their guesses, thereby desecrating the
dignity of each individual victim. Worse, a serious debate
about the real perpetrators of these heinous crimes is virtually
blocked, giving rise to perpetual political manipulation.
Mr. Zuroff noted that the Jasenovac camp museum, which opened
in 2007, fails to mention any of the camp’s commanders
but instead refers only generically to the Ustashi, the Croat
fascists who collaborated with the Nazis during WWII, as
the camp’s executioners.
While Mr. Zuroff said that the trial of Dinko Sakic, the
camp’s commander, in 1999 was one of the most important
moments in the history of modern Croatia, failure to educate
students properly was deplorable. He describes the Jasenovac
museum as a “squandered opportunity” to face
up to the crimes.
Communist rule under former Yugoslav strongman Tito is much
to blame for the fact that the history of the Jasenovac concentration
camp has never been fully dealt with. But this deficiency,
which is also endemic in the Baltics, has proven fatal here.
Two writers, who later gained political prominence, used
the intellectual vacuum to publish their own accounts during
the 1980s after the death of Tito, who tried to suppress
the truth about the camp to foster a Yugoslav identity.
One was Vuk Draskovic, who later would become foreign minister
of Serbia, the other, Franjo Tudjman, the first Croatian
president after the collapse of Yugoslavia. Both won fame
and notoriety by using the atrocities committed during WWII
for their own ends: Draskovic to vividly depict the genocide
committed against Serbs, Tudjman to support his ideas that
Serbs wanted nothing but to deprive Croatia of its independence.
Only a few years after the publication of their respective
books, Yugoslavia fell apart in a brutal civil war as old
inter-ethnic hatred was revived to rally the population to
engage in another round of senseless slaughtering. Serbs
blamed Croats of trying to resurrect their fascist fiefdom,
while Croats argued Serbs instrumentalize Jasenovac to justify
a land grab in Croatia.
While Jasenovac can’t be used to explain the fall
of Yugoslavia, it is evident that the unresolved history
of this camp has and is stirring unhealthy emotions and is
being misused by Croats and Serbs alike to depict the other
side in the most cruel terms.
It is paramount that comprehensive and objective research
is being undertaken to detoxify the cynical debate about
figures that dehumanizes the crimes and serves as an excuse
for a perpetual tit-for-tat that continues to this day and
creates a troubling and confusing picture of the Balkans.
Failing to sober up and face the facts is producing a vicious
circle for which the recent wars offer testimony.
“I would personally be very pleased to be part of
an effort to determine the scope of the murders. It is a
very important step towards reconciliation,” Mr. Zuroff
said. blogs.wsj.com
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