Sisak concentration camp

Ethnic tensions between Serbs and Croats increased following the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the aftermath of World War I. During the interwar period, many Croats came to resent Serb political hegemony in the newly established state, which resulted in the passing of legislation that favoured Serb political, religious and business interests.[1] Tensions flared in 1928, following the shooting of five Croatian parliamentary deputies by the Montenegrin Serb politician Puniša Račić in the country's parliament. Two died on the spot and two others were wounded but survived. A fifth, the opposition leader Stjepan Radić, was also wounded and died nearly two months later of complications attributed to the shooting. In January 1929, King Alexander instituted a royal dictatorship and renamed the country Yugoslavia. Shortly thereafter, the Croatian politician Ante Pavelić formed the Ustaše, a Croatian nationalist and fascist movement which sought to achieve Croatian independence through violent means. The Ustaše were outlawed in Yugoslavia, but received covert assistance from Benito Mussolini's Italy, which had territorial pretensions in Istria and Dalmatia. The Ustaše carried out a number of actions aimed at undermining Yugoslavia, most notably the Velebit uprising in 1932 and the assassination of King Alexander in Marseilles in 1934. Following Alexander's assassination, the Ustaše movement's seniormost leaders, including Pavelić, were tried in absentia in both France and Yugoslavia and sentenced to death, but were granted protection by Mussolini and thus evaded capture.[2]

Following the Anschluss of March 1938, during which Germany annexed Austria, Yugoslavia came to share its northwestern border with Germany and fell under increasing pressure as its neighbours aligned themselves with the Axis powers. In April 1939, Italy invaded and occupied Albania, thereby establishing a second land border with Yugoslavia.[3] At the outbreak of World War II, the Royal Yugoslav Government declared its neutrality.[4] Between September and November 1940, Hungary and Romania joined the Tripartite Pact, aligning themselves with the Axis, and Italy invaded Greece. Yugoslavia was by then almost completely surrounded by the Axis powers and their satellites, and its neutral stance toward the war became strained.[3] In late February 1941, Bulgaria joined the Pact. The following day, German troops entered Bulgaria from Romania, closing the ring around Yugoslavia.[5]

Intending to secure his southern flank for the impending attack on the Soviet Union, German dictator Adolf Hitler began placing heavy pressure on Yugoslavia to join the Axis. On 25 March 1941, after some delay, the Royal Yugoslav Government signed the Pact. Two days later, a group of pro-Western, Serbian nationalist Royal Yugoslav Air Force officers deposed the country's regent, Prince Paul, in a bloodless coup d'état. They placed his teenage nephew Peter on the throne and brought to power an ostensible government of national unity led by the head of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force, General Dušan Simović.[6] The coup enraged Hitler, who wished to irrevocably dismantle Yugoslavia, which he dubbed a "Versailles construct".[7] He immediately ordered the country's invasion, which commenced on 6 April.[8]

A map depicting the occupation and partition of Yugoslavia, 1941–1943

Yugoslavia was quickly overwhelmed by the combined strength of the Axis powers and surrendered in less than two weeks. The government and royal family went into exile, and the country was occupied and dismembered by its neighbours.[7] Serbia was reduced to its pre-Balkan War borders and directly occupied by Germany.[9] Serb-inhabited territories west of the Drina River were incorporated into the Axis puppet state known as the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna država Hrvatska; NDH), which included most of modern-day Croatia, all of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, and parts of modern-day Serbia.[10][lower-alpha 1] The establishment of the NDH was announced over the radio by Slavko Kvaternik, a former Austro-Hungarian Army officer who had been in contact with Croatian nationalists abroad, on 10 April.[12][13]

Pavelić entered the NDH on 13 April and reached Zagreb two days later. The same day, Germany and Italy extended diplomatic recognition to the NDH. Pavelić assumed control and bestowed himself the title Poglavnik ("leader").[12] At the time of its establishment, the NDH had a population of 6.5 million inhabitants, about half of whom were Croats. It was also inhabited by nearly two million Serbs, who constituted about one-third of its total population.[14] Nevertheless, Serbs—along with others whom the Ustaše deemed "undesirable", such as Jews and Roma—were denied citizenship on the basis that they were not Aryans, and immediate measures were taken to expunge the presence of the Cyrillic alphabet from the public sphere.[15] On 17 April, the Ustaše instituted the Legal Provision for the Defence of the People and State, a law legitimizing the establishment of concentration camps and the mass shooting of hostages in the NDH. Thirty concentration camps in total were established across the puppet state.[16]

The town of Sisak, near the confluence of the Sava and Kupa rivers, is located more than 48 kilometres (30 mi) southeast of Zagreb. During the war, the town hosted two sub-camps, which were initially jointly administered by the NDH authorities and the German Commissioner in Croatia (German: Deutscher Bevollmächtigter General in Kroatien). The first sub-camp, Sisak I, served as a transit camp for thousands of captured Serbs, Bosniaks, and Roma who were to be deported to perform forced labour in the Reich. Euphemistically referred to as a "transit camp for refugees" by its administrators, it was established on a portion of the abandoned Teslić factory, which was surrounded by barbed wire. The German authorities sent some of the able-bodied prisoners from Sisak I to the Sajmište concentration camp, directly across the border from German-occupied Belgrade. Other prisoners met various fates in different German camps, such as Augsburg, Auschwitz, Dachau, Mauthausen, and Salzgitter. Some were sent to German-run camps in occupied Norway.[17]

Sisak I was expanded in 1942 with the construction of seven additional barracks. By the following year, it had a total capacity of 5,000. The German authorities ceded control over Sisak I to the NDH and the Ustaše in April 1944. The camp was eventually shut down in January 1945, with its remaining inmates dispatched to Jasenovac, the largest of the Ustaše camps.[17]

Serb women and children displaced following the Kozara Offensive, 1942

The second sub-camp, Sisak II, was reserved for those who were deemed unfit for forced labour.[18] Its operators euphemistically referred to it as a "reception center for children and refugees"[18] or the "shelter for children refugees".[19] According to the historian Joseph Robert White, the first 1,200 children arrived from the Mlaka sub-camp on 29 July 1942, with subsequent transfers from Jasenovac V (Stara Gradiška) and Jastrebarsko taking place in August.[20] According to the historians Paul R. Bartrop and Eve E. Grimm, Sisak II was officially established on 3 August 1942, following the Kozara Offensive (German: Operation West-Bosnien). The first group of 906 children arrived at Sisak II on 3 August, according to Bartrop and Grimm, with an additional 650 children arriving the following day, and a third group of 1,272 on 6 August.[19]

The Ustaše dispersed the children of Sisak II among the Sisters of Saint Vincent Convent, a site that formerly belonged to the Yugoslav Sokol recreational society, the Reis Saltworks and a primary school in the neighbourhood of Novi Sisak. Children under the age of three were detained in the convent, whereas those between the ages of four and five were confined to the saltworks.[20] Sisak II was administered by the physician Antun Najžer.[19][lower-alpha 2] The commander of the camp guards was an individual with the surname Faget. Female Ustaše guards also took part in overseeing the camp. The German Sicherheitsdienst (SD) also sent a representative to Sisak, and German field gendarmes provided security around the two sub-camps and the adjacent railway.[18]

Child prisoners at Sisak II

Despite the efforts of humanitarians such as Diana Budisavljević and others, up to 40 children died at Sisak II on some days. Food parcels sent by the Red Cross never reached the children.[19] By late September 1942, the camp held 4,720 children. Poor sanitary conditions and lack of care resulted in a very high mortality rate among the children.[21] Children were made to sleep on the floor, and malnutrition and dysentery were rife.[19] Of the 162 children admitted to the City Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb[lower-alpha 3] over the course of 1942, 145 died. Many had previously been interned at Sisak.[22] In August and September 1942, it is estimated that Sisak II contained 3,971 child prisoners.[19] Some of the camp's children were killed by being given lethal injections, personally administered by Najžer.[20] Others were killed by being fed gruel laced with caustic soda, according to survivors.[23] One former prisoner recalled how her sister "came down with a high fever and vomiting" and died after drinking poisoned milk.[24]

NDH official Ante Dumbović authored a report in which he reported that the nuns tasked with looking after the children did not even know their names. This prompted Dumbović to place metal plates around the children's necks with their names inscribed. The poor living conditions at Sisak II shocked many observers, including Dumbović, as well as representatives of the Croatian Red Cross. Dumbović documented the conditions at Sisak with his camera, taking 755 photographs of the emaciated children, some dead or dying, and others lying naked on the floor. At the time of his inspection, Dumbović found that 956 children had died in the camp, of whom only 201 could be identified by name. Three women affiliated with the Croatian Red Cross—Jana Koch, Vera Luketić, and Luketić's mother, Dragica Habazin—visited Sisak II in September 1942 and interviewed Najžer. He denied that any of the inmates were suffering, apart from some internees at the primary school, who were described as being "sick".[20]

Many children were rescued by volunteers affiliated with the communist resistance, who found them jobs as domestic servants or farm workers. Rescuers often worked under code names in secret cells, coordinating their activities from farmhouses as well as the homes of local aristocrats. Approximately 2,200 children were resettled in Zagreb, while families from Sisak and surrounding villages sheltered 1,630 children rescued from the camp.[25] In some cases, the children were released to their parents or close relatives, while many others were placed in foster care. Either because of the NDH policy of forced conversion or out of expedience, many were baptized into the Roman Catholic faith.[20]

On 8 January 1943, Sisak II was shut down, and the remaining child prisoners were sent to Zagreb.[26] Over the course of its existence, a total of 6,693 Serb, Jewish, and Roma children passed through Sisak II, according to Bartrop and Grimm.[19] White places the number of child inmates at 7,000.[20] According to Bartrop and Grimm, between 1,160 and 1,500 children perished at the camp, largely as a result of typhus.[19] White estimates that between 1,200 and 1,600 children died from starvation, thirst, typhus and neglect.[20]