Izvorni znanstveni članak
Axis Offensive on Kozara Mountain, 1942 — the Fate of the Prisoners of War, Civilians and Children
Nikica Barić
; Hrvatski institut za povijest, Zagreb
Sažetak
The paper presents the fate of the persons, mostly ethnic Serbs, captured during the large scale operation conducted under the command of the Wehrmacht in northwestern Bosnia, at the territory of the Independent State of Croatia, during June and July of 1942. The operation was aimed against the Partisan forces located in the areas of mountains Kozara and Prosara. Although the operation was conducted under the Wehrmacht command, forces used in the offensive were mainly units of the Croatian Home Guards and Ustasha militia. The operation ended with the encirclement and destruction of large number of Partisans. At the same time the operation was specific because the Partisans accepted frontal combat and withdrew large number of civilians behind their lines. During the offensive and after it was finished German and Croatian troops gathered more than 60.000 civilians, as well as captured Partisans, from Kozara area. The paper concentrates on how German army and Croatian authorities treated these prisoners and civilians. Many captured Partisans and their suspected collaborators were shot during or immediately after the operation. Thousands of them were transported to a German concentration camp in Zemun and then transferred as forced labor to Norway and Germany. Also a certain part of other civilians was sent as «free« labor force to Germany. Tens of thousands of the remaining civilians evacuated from Kozara area were resettled to the areas north from river Sava. Also, numerous children who remained parentless during the Axis offensive on Kozara, or whose mothers were forced to hand them over to the Croatian authorities, were sent to state run orphanages and medical institutions in Jastrebarsko, Sisak and Zagreb. During the operation against Partisans at Kozara and in its aftermath, thousands of civilians were left homeless. They were forcibly resettled and many of them died of malnutrition, diseases, or were killed. It must be taken into consideration that these civilians were ethnic Serbs. Authorities of the Independent State of Croatia, and its ruling Ustasha regime, were strongly anti-Serb. The regime did not recognize the existence of Serbs on its territory and Serb population was officially labelled as «Greek-Eastern« and later as «Orthodox« population. It is therefore interesting to see how the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia treated such huge number of Orthodox civilians that were captured during the operation against Partisan forces in Kozara and who were seen by the Croatian authorities as hostile and suspicious. Using the available literature, published sources, but also new archival documents, the paper tries to follow the fate of civilians resettled from Kozara area. The subject is also important in connection with the notorious Jasenovac concentration camp run by the Ustasha. The camp was located in the vicinity of the Kozara area and there are claims that large number of civilians evacuated from Kozara was sent to Jasenovac where they were executed. This paper shows that the largest number of these civilians was not sent to Jasenovac. Instead they were resettled to the areas north of river Sava.
Ključne riječi
the Independent State of Croatia; Kozara; Jasenovac concentration camp; Jastrebarsko children's concentration camp; Sisak orphanage for child refugees; Diana Budisavljević
Hrčak ID:
187790
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.9.2017.
Posjeta: 8.479 *