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Located in
Croatia 62 miles south of Zagreb, Jasenovac was Croatia’s
largest concentration and
extermination camp. Jasenovac, was
a network of several sub-camps, established in August 1941
and dissolved in April 1945. The Nazis gave control of
Jasenovac to the puppet Croatian government, which was run
by the fascist
Ustasa movement. A large number of
Ustasa members served in the camp, most notably Miroslav
Filipovic-Majstorovic, who was notorious for killing
prisoners with his bare hands. In total,
about 600,000 people were murdered at Jasenovac, including
Serbs, Jews,
Gypsies,
and Croats who opposed the Ustasa Government. Of that
number, some 25,000 of the victims were Jews - most of whom
had been brought to Jasenovac before August 1942. (at which
point the Germans began deporting the Jews of Croatia to
Auschwitz). Jews were
brought to Jasenovac from all over Croatia. Most were killed
upon arrival, whilst a small number of skilled professionals
were kept alive to work at the camp. Prisoners endured
horrible conditions and brutal treatment at the hands of the
Ustasa guards. Near the end of the war, Jasenovac's
administration blew up much of the camp and killed most of
the prisoners, in an attempt to conceal evidence of the mass
murders that took place there. |