Original scientific paper
“Your Victory, our Revenge”. The suffering of the population of the municipality of Crkveni Bok in 1943 and 1944.
Milan Radanović
; Arhiv Srba u Hrvatskoj
Abstract
The paper chronologically presents the crimes of the First Ustasha Defense Division (1st UDD) against the Serb population of Crkveni Bok municipality during the Second World War. The emphasis was given on the crimes of 1944, since the suffering of the local population during that year remained in the shadow of the events and crimes committed in 1942. Residents of the municipality were interned in the Jasenovac camp several times. On October 13, 1942, over a thousand locals were interned but were soon released from the camp. Based on new sources, we are able to assess the approximate number (about 90) of locals killed on October 13, 1942. On several occasions during 1944, members of the 1st UDD entered the municipality, capturing, killing or interning the locals. The second most massive internment took place on August 22, 1944, when about 30 people were killed in the villages and about 220 locals were interned. None of the internees survived the war. The paper
also reveals details about the attacks of the German forces on the villages of the Crkveni Bok municipality during 1943 and 1944, when over 20 locals were killed. Furthermore, the paper reveals the structure and activities of the 8th Company of the 1st UDD and the Ustasha militia from the village Puska, whose members were mostly involved in crimes against the inhabitants of Crkveni Bok during 1944. An important part of the paper is devoted to the formation and operation of the Banija Self-Protection Brigade, a collaborating militia that operated in several Serb villages in Banija, including the municipality of Crkveni Bok. Most of the data presented in this paper are based on research and analysis of hitherto unused archival material. Among the findings of this research are the identities of several dozen unregistered victims of the Jasenovac camp.
Keywords
Crkveni Bok; Jasenovac; Banija; Independent State of Croatia; Ustashas; First Ustasha Defense Division; Maks Luburić; Ustasha crimes; Banija Self-Defense Brigade; partisans
Hrčak ID:
246544
URI
Publication date:
23.11.2020.
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