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Jastrebarsko concentration camp held Serb children who had been brought there from various areas of the Axis puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) during World War II. It was established by the Ustaše-led government, and was located in the town of Jastrebarsko, about 37 kilometres (23 mi) southwest of the NDH capital, Zagreb, operating from 12 July until October 1942. Camp administration was provided by nuns of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul order, with Ustaše guards.
Children arrived at the camp in an emaciated and weak condition from other camps within the Ustaše camp system, with a total of 3,336 children passing through the camp. Between 449 and 1500 children died there, mainly from disease and malnutrition. A sub-camp was established in nearby Donja Reka. The Yugoslav Partisans liberated about 350 children from the main camp in August 1942. In October 1942, about 500 of the surviving children were dispersed among local families by the Catholic aid group, Caritas; 1,637 boys and girls were taken in by families in Zagreb, Jastrebarsko and surrounding villages, and another 113 were relocated to Bosanska Gradiška.
Origins
The decision to establish the camp was taken due to the large numbers of Serb children who had been rounded up during genocidal anti-Serb massacres conducted by the forces of the government of the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) since April 1941. Children had also been taken during anti-Partisan operations conducted by German, NDH and collaborationist forces between April 1941 and June 1942. Their parents and older siblings had often been killed, or had been sent to labour camps both within the NDH and elsewhere in Axis-occupied Europe. Those children that had not been killed in the massacres and counter-insurgency operations were rounded up, as their villages had in most cases been burned to the ground, and they had no means of support.
By mid-1942, over 1,000 children that had been rounded up during the Kozara Offensive were being held at the Stara Gradiška concentration camp, itself a sub-camp of the Jasenovac concentration camp complex. Information about the plight of these children was passed to concerned citizens in the NDH capital, Zagreb, one of whom was Diana Budisavljević, an Austrian. Budisavljević approached an Ustaše-appointed member of the board of the Croatian Red Cross, Kamilo Brosler, and told him about the children at Stara Gradiška. Brosler was horrified, and with the support of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross began to place pressure on the NDH government to release the children. Budisavljević also used her contacts with the German Army to intervene with the Ustaše regime on behalf of the children.
The NDH government struck upon the idea of trying to re-educate these children to become something akin to an Ustaše version of the Hitler Youth, thereby turning them against their Serb parents. The regime saw this as a more effective way of placing pressure on the Yugoslav Partisan movement than killing the children outright. However, the NDH regime had not made any arrangements to implement this idea, so the establishment of a children's camp was done in haste, especially as there was strong pressure to do something for the children. NDH regime propaganda advanced the idea that the children were being liberated from slavery at the hands of the Partisans.
Establishment
The camp was established in the town of Jastrebarsko, about 37 kilometres (23 mi) southwest of the NDH capital, Zagreb. This location was chosen due to its close proximity to Zagreb, which reduced exposure to Partisan influence and made defence easier. The buildings earmarked to accommodate the children were Dvorac Erdödy – a former castle that had been a children's home before the war, the nearby Franciscan monastery, and the former Italian barracks and stables. Preparations for the reception of the children were completed hastily by the Croatian Red Cross and local peasants. At the head of the camp administration was a nun, Sister Barta Pulherija, a member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul order,[5] and Sister Gaudencija was the manager of the camp estate. Pulherija was the sister-in-law of Mile Budak, a chief Ustaše ideologist and high-ranking NDH official. The staff otherwise consisted of members of the Ustaše Youth and female Ustaše.
In early July 1942, 16 Red Cross nurses were sent from Zagreb to the Stara Gradiška concentration camp to collect 650 children and bring them to Jastrebarsko. The journey of 135 kilometres (84 mi) from Stara Gradiška to Zagreb took 24 hours, during which 17 children died. During decontamination procedures in Zagreb another 30 children died. Another 37 very ill children were placed in a Zagreb hospital, but they also died soon after. The remaining 566 children made it to Jastrebarsko alive, and the camp opened on 12 July 1942. It was located in an area that was garrisoned by Italian troops under an agreement with the NDH government.
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Jastrebarsko concentration camp held Serb children who had been brought there from various areas of the Axis puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) during World War II. It was established by the Ustaše-led government, and was located in the town of Jastrebarsko, about 37 kilometres (23 mi) southwest of the NDH capital, Zagreb, operating from 12 July until October 1942. Camp administration was provided by nuns of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul order, with Ustaše guards.
Children arrived at the camp in an emaciated and weak condition from other camps within the Ustaše camp system, with a total of 3,336 children passing through the camp. Between 449 and 1500 children died there, mainly from disease and malnutrition. A sub-camp was established in nearby Donja Reka. The Yugoslav Partisans liberated about 350 children from the main camp in August 1942. In October 1942, about 500 of the surviving children were dispersed among local families by the Catholic aid group, Caritas; 1,637 boys and girls were taken in by families in Zagreb, Jastrebarsko and surrounding villages, and another 113 were relocated to Bosanska Gradiška.
Origins
The decision to establish the camp was taken due to the large numbers of Serb children who had been rounded up during genocidal anti-Serb massacres conducted by the forces of the government of the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) since April 1941. Children had also been taken during anti-Partisan operations conducted by German, NDH and collaborationist forces between April 1941 and June 1942. Their parents and older siblings had often been killed, or had been sent to labour camps both within the NDH and elsewhere in Axis-occupied Europe. Those children that had not been killed in the massacres and counter-insurgency operations were rounded up, as their villages had in most cases been burned to the ground, and they had no means of support.
By mid-1942, over 1,000 children that had been rounded up during the Kozara Offensive were being held at the Stara Gradiška concentration camp, itself a sub-camp of the Jasenovac concentration camp complex. Information about the plight of these children was passed to concerned citizens in the NDH capital, Zagreb, one of whom was Diana Budisavljević, an Austrian. Budisavljević approached an Ustaše-appointed member of the board of the Croatian Red Cross, Kamilo Brosler, and told him about the children at Stara Gradiška. Brosler was horrified, and with the support of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross began to place pressure on the NDH government to release the children. Budisavljević also used her contacts with the German Army to intervene with the Ustaše regime on behalf of the children.
The NDH government struck upon the idea of trying to re-educate these children to become something akin to an Ustaše version of the Hitler Youth, thereby turning them against their Serb parents. The regime saw this as a more effective way of placing pressure on the Yugoslav Partisan movement than killing the children outright. However, the NDH regime had not made any arrangements to implement this idea, so the establishment of a children's camp was done in haste, especially as there was strong pressure to do something for the children. NDH regime propaganda advanced the idea that the children were being liberated from slavery at the hands of the Partisans.
Establishment
The camp was established in the town of Jastrebarsko, about 37 kilometres (23 mi) southwest of the NDH capital, Zagreb. This location was chosen due to its close proximity to Zagreb, which reduced exposure to Partisan influence and made defence easier. The buildings earmarked to accommodate the children were Dvorac Erdödy – a former castle that had been a children's home before the war, the nearby Franciscan monastery, and the former Italian barracks and stables. Preparations for the reception of the children were completed hastily by the Croatian Red Cross and local peasants. At the head of the camp administration was a nun, Sister Barta Pulherija, a member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul order,[5] and Sister Gaudencija was the manager of the camp estate. Pulherija was the sister-in-law of Mile Budak, a chief Ustaše ideologist and high-ranking NDH official. The staff otherwise consisted of members of the Ustaše Youth and female Ustaše.
In early July 1942, 16 Red Cross nurses were sent from Zagreb to the Stara Gradiška concentration camp to collect 650 children and bring them to Jastrebarsko. The journey of 135 kilometres (84 mi) from Stara Gradiška to Zagreb took 24 hours, during which 17 children died. During decontamination procedures in Zagreb another 30 children died. Another 37 very ill children were placed in a Zagreb hospital, but they also died soon after. The remaining 566 children made it to Jastrebarsko alive, and the camp opened on 12 July 1942. It was located in an area that was garrisoned by Italian troops under an agreement with the NDH government.
témoignage d'Alexandre STUDENY:
Avant le 10 avril 1941, ce camp était déjà un camp d'internement , au moins depuis septembre 1939, puisque mon père Léopold Studeny et ma mère Charlotte SINGER y furent enfermés. Pendant cette période, il y eut, simultanément, 142 personnes (adultes ) internées dans cet établissement. L'officier qui commandait ce camp était d'origine autrichienne et il connaissait la réputation de mon père, reporter photographe viennois renommé entre les deux guerres. Il annonça, début avril 1941, qu'il avait reçu l'ordre de remettre le camp entre les mains des Ustachis le lendemain matin. Il lui proposa de les faire évader dans un camion qu'il conduirait ce qui fut fait et les conduisit en zone occupée par les italiens. le 10 avril au matin, les 140 internés restés dans ce camp furent exécutes, à la mitrailleuse, par les Ustachis. J'ai eu, entre les mains, lorsque j'étais enfant, une photographie, réalisée par mon père, des internés de ce camp (photo hélas perdue).
De ce fait, et pour la période septembre 1939 - 10 avril 1941, il n'y eu que deux survivants de ce camp et 140 exécutions.
Cela prouve que les lieux de détention, d'internement et d'exécution ont une histoire qui précéde l'histoire officielle.