Thursday, April 30, 2015

REMEMBERING Halyard Mission Hero Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian on his birthday April 30, 2015 / By Aleksandra Rebic

Arthur Jibilian, 86, speaking at the "Forgotten 500 Reunion"
'Lest we Forget' Halyard Mission commemoration
Michigan June 17, 2009
Photo by Aleksandra Rebic
American airmen and OSS personnel with General Mihailovich,
standing in the center of the photo with his hand
over his heart, 1944. Arthur Jibilian is kneeling in the front
row in front of General Mihailovich and Captain Nick Lalich.
Photo courtesy of Arthur Jibilian.
 
Back of photograph with personal message from
General Mihailovich to Arthur Jibilian in 1944.
"To Mr. 'Jibby' Jibilian, an ally and friend in these difficult days
in the battle for freedom."
Photo courtesy of Arthur Jibilian.

Aleksandra's Note: This year, 2015, the world will be marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the era of the "Greatest Generation." For me, one of the measures of a man who dies is how deeply the loss is felt in the hearts of those who knew him, and if they didn't know him personally, were affected by his work or by his existence on this earth in a positive way. OSS radioman Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian was short in stature but a giant of a man in the hearts of all of us who were fortunate and privileged enough to know him. I was one of those people, and though it's been five years since his death, I can still remember exactly what his voice sounded like, and he is as alive for me today as he was for all the years we kept in touch. In one of our last conversations over the telephone, it was obvious that he had been weakened by the leukemia that had struck him late in life. I made a simple request - "Arthur, please don't die." He liked that I called him "Arthur", though most of those familiar with his remarkable life story endearingly called him "Jibby". He chuckled warmly and said, "I'll try not to." I know he tried his best, but finally succumbed and died peacefully on March 21, 2010 in Ohio. Although it was inevitable, the news of his death was taken hard. I really thought we'd have him just a little while longer.

Today, April 30, 2015, Arthur Jibilian would have been 92 years old. I'd like to celebrate his birthday with you by telling you just a little bit about him. You can find out much more by searching the internet. Please take the time to do so today. It will be worth your time and attention.

Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian  was directly involved in the great WWII Halyard Mission Rescue Operation of 1944 in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, both in Serbia and in Bosnia. He was directly responsible for saving the lives of over 500 American airmen stranded on that territory who were considered MIA and virtually left for dead for a good length of time before they were rescued.

Perhaps even more significant was that for Arthur Jibilian, coming home to America after the mission was successfully completed and every American and Allied airman was evacuated safely didn't mean leaving the past behind. Instead, he made it one of his life goals to vindicate the Serbian commander who made the multiple rescues of the stranded Americans and other Allied airmen possible. Arthur never forgot the legendary Serbian General Draza Mihailovich, whom he was fortunate enough to have met personally while in Serbia and Bosnia. After the war, and to his dying day, Arthur devoted his energy and his heart and soul to seeking justice for the General and righting the wrongs of the historical record with regards to Mihailovich, his Chetnik forces, and the Serbian people loyal to them. It was a huge task and an uphill battle. That did not deter him. Most impressively, Arthur Jibilian wanted nothing for himself and everything for Mihailovich and the Serbs who had saved the lives of the Americans in the former Yugoslavia during World War II. Arthur's efforts were not in vain. The historical record is now a more truthful one, a more just one, because of him.

Fortunately, Arthur had the opportunity to return to Serbia and the areas that were so pivotal in his life story twice before he died: the first time in 2004 for the 6oth anniversary of the Halyard Mission and then the following year, in 2005, when the Mihailovich Legion of Merit Medal was returned "home" to Serbia.

When Arthur died on March 21, 2010 I felt the loss in my gut. His daughter Debi Jibilian called and left a voice mail message to call her back. It was a Sunday afternoon, and I had been out running errands. Springtime had finally arrived. She didn't leave any details. Though we had spoken on the phone a number of times about her father and the Halyard Mission and current ongoing recognition efforts, and had met in June of 2009, this time it was immediately clear why she was calling. I remember banging my fist on the kitchen counter in frustration. Then the tears came. To this day I continue to feel the loss in my heart. I selfishly wish Arthur were still here with us, because he was truly such a dear, good man. A good friend. I regret that he did not live to see the Mihailovich Rehabilitation judicial process begin in Belgrade, Serbia in September of 2010. As of this writing, that process continues, as we wait for long-deserved justice to be served in Belgrade.

Arthur Jibilian's remains were interred in Arlington National Cemetery on May 5, 2011.

I hope Arthur Jibilian is watching and reading and listening. I hope he knows how much he is missed. For the Serbs, he was truly the "good American." We have not forgotten.

VJECNAJA PAMJAT.
MEMORY ETERNAL.

Sincerely,
Aleksandra Rebic

April 30, 2015

Arthur Jibilian and Aleksandra Rebic
"Forgotten 500 Reunion"
Michigan, June 17, 2009.
Photo: Rebic collection.
 
 
 
*****
 
If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
 
*****

ИЗЛОЖБА У ИМЕ НАРОДА ПАНЧЕВО! -ТРИБИНА И ФИЛМ БОГ ДА ПРОСТИ - Четвртак 30. април 2015 / IZLOŽBA U IME NARODA PANČEVO! Dokumentarni Film i Tribina "BOG DA PROSTI" April 30, 2015


О СТРЕЉАНИМ ГЛУМЦИМА И ДРУГИМ НЕПРИЈАТЕЉИМА НАРОДА 1944.



IZLOŽBA U IME NARODA PANČEVO! - Pogledajte zasto je ovu izlozbu videlo preko 50.000 posetilaca u Srbiji u proteklih godinu dana i zasto je od otvaranaja za deset dana kroz Narodni muzej u Pančevu prošlo oko 1500 gostiju:

ČETVRTAK 30. april 2015:

17h - stručno vođenje kroz izložbu.gost dr Nebojša Damjanović

18h - dokumentarni film i tribina "BOG DA PROSTI"

Gosti:

Boško Savković, reditelj filma

Dobrivoje Tomić, svedok masovnih likvidacija 1944-1945.

Boško Milanaović, potomak streljanog glumca Antonija Milanovića.

Dobro došli!

*****

Четвртак 30. април 2015:

17ч - стручно вођење кроз изложбу.
гост др Небојша Дамјановић

18ч - документарни филм и трибина "БОГ ДА ПРОСТИ"

Гости:

Бошко Савковић, редитељ филма

Добривоје Томић, сведок масовних ликвидација 1944-1945.

Бошко Миланаовић, потомак стрељаног глумца Антонија Милановића.

Добро дошли!

http://newsite.uimenaroda.net/cr/news/vesti/izlozba-u-ime-naroda-pancevo-tribina-i-film-bog-da-prosti/

U ime naroda represija u Srbiji 44-53
na Facebook.

FILM "BOG DA PROSTI" (official trailer)

Posted on You Tube by "AlterNIBBgd"
Published on Sep 30, 2014
Поводом 70 година од ослобођења Србије и Београда од фашизма...



https://youtu.be/Vq2_YaloUUc


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Хрвати избачени из марша победника [Међу Србима током прославе АНЗАК дана у Сиднеју (Аустралија), посвећеном сећању на савезничке хероје оба светска рата] / "ВасељенскаТВ" April 28, 2015

ВасељенскаТВ
С. Принцип / Вести
April 28, 2015

(Фото: С. Принцип)

Сиднеј – Свечано расположење међу Србима током прославе Анзак дана у Сиднеју, посвећеном сећању на савезничке хероје оба светска рата, нарушено је инцидентом групе Хрвата који су такође хтели да марширају. Сврстали су се у колону са ешелонима савезника, носећи транспарент са шаховницом и натписима „Croatia“ и „Croatian army“, као и поруком: „Бранити домовину срцем хрватским“.

Вест о њиховом доласку стигла је до Срба који су се налазили знатно иза у колони.

„Ово је била очигледна провокација, људи су били веома узнемирени. Могло је свашта да се догоди“, каже Милан Бркљач из српског одбора за АНЗАК. Он додаје да су се Срби трудили да спусте тензију и реше проблем на цивилизован начин.

„Ово је био поступак с намером да се Срби испровоцирају на реаговање, што би могло да доведе до наше суспензије са свечаности“, оцењује Бркљач.

Српски Главни одбор за АНЗАК одлучио је да ни на који начин неће дозволити да се у маршу нађу представници нације која је ратовала на другој страни од савезничке.

„Нас 25 изашло је и стало испред Хрвата. Направили смо кордон да они не би прошли. Били смо сасвим мирни“, наводи Бркљач.

Срби су потом замолили полицајца да позове појачање, дошло их је петнаестак. Срби су онда отишли код маршала параде и проверили има ли Хрвата на списку учесника.

„Није их било. Зато смо тражили да разговарамо са Бобом Бетијем, одговорним за организацију и упозорили га да би могло да буде великих проблема, да су Хрвати у оба светска рата били против савезника и да била срамота за све ветеране да сада овде марширају„, рекао је Бркљач.

Он додаје да је Бети после консултација отишао вођи хрватске групе и затражио да се разиђу.

„Он му је рекао да имају одобрење хрватске државе и да представљају хрватске војнике који су у Авганистану. Ипак су отишли, а ми смо упозорени да останемо мирни“, наводи Бркљач.

Када су Хрвати отишли, Срби су се вратили на место свог ешелона.

Бркљач напомиње да је поставио питање да ли хрватска држава може да одлучује у Аустралији.

„Рекао сам да су у Авганистану били и немачки војници. Значи ли то да би сада и Немци овде могли да марширају“, питао је Бркљач организаторе.


С. Принцип / Вести

http://www.vaseljenska.com/vesti/hrvati-izbaceni-iz-marsa-pobednika/


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
 

Документарни филм “Генерал Михаиловић – Херој и казна“. / "PTC-Radio-Televizija Srbije" / "Pogledi" / April 28, 2015

Pogledi
April 25, 2015
Милослав Самарџић



Добро упамтите ове координате: уторак, 28. април 2015. године, 20 часова, Други програм Радио Телевизије Србије.

Добро их упамтите јер је то термин првог емитовања једног објективног филма о Другом светском рату на државној телевизији у историји Србије: документарног филма “Генерал Михаиловић – Херој и казна“.

Упамтите их и зато што то није обичан филм ни када се гледа чисто естетски, ван идеологије и политике. То је најбољи филм овог жанра икад снимљен у Србији.

Најбољи је јер је реч о продукцији холивудске компаније 44blue – а она је најбоља међу најбољима и у самом Холивуду, овенчана бројним ЕМИ наградама (еквивалент Оскара у свету документарног филма) и чије серије и филмови се свакодневно приказују на водећим америчким телевизијама.

Суоснивач компаније и продуцент филма “Генерал Михаиловић – Херој и казна“ је Раша Драшковић, син др Милорада Драшковића, делегата Омладинског штаба 501 у Врховној команди Југословенске војске, потоњег директора Архива Хуверовог института при Станфорд универзитету у Калифорнији. Милорад је посмрче министра Милорада Драшковића, који је, као прва жртва Комунистичке партије, убијен 1921. године у Делницама. Пре рата имао је улицу у центру Крагујевца, која је после рата преименована по имену убице. После 2000. године име убице је избрисано, док је Милорад Драшковић добио нову улицу, али сада на периферији Крагујевца.

Извршни продуцент је један од најбољих приватних студија у Србији, “Синемон продакшн“ из Београда.

Филм је сниман на више локација у Србији, Британији и Америци. Основна нарација је на енглеском а главни наратор је управо Раша Драшковић. Прича је холивудска, са пуно заплета и изненађења, а праћена ексклузивним филмским записима и документима, као и инсертима из најпопуларнијих партизанских филмова и серија, уз одговарајуће коментаре.

Поред неколико учесника рата (Савковић са Рудника, Хођера из Београда/Вашингтона, итд), који уносе дозу емоције, у филму говоре и водећи британски историчари из ове обасти, на челу са Хедер Вилијамс и Питером Бетијем, али говори и контроверзни Николас Бредшо (алијас Џон Крипс), једини британки историчар који и данас подржава причу из 1950-тих година. Затим говоре истакнути амерички историчари: др Кирк Форд, професор историје на Мисисипи универзитету, историчари Националног архива у Вашингтону, итд. Свој скромни допринос овом великом филму, кроз изјаве и интервјуе, дало је и нас неколико истраживача из Србије који се бавимо овом темом, на челу са бившим шефом Војног архива у Београду пуковником мр Драганом Крсмановићем.

http://www.pogledi.rs/ovaj-film-morate-videti/

*****

Уторак, 28. април 2015. године, 20 часова, Други програм Радио Телевизије Србије.

PTC - Radio-Televizija Srbije

Генерал Михаиловић - Херој и казна

Филм америчке продукције 44 Блу приказује однос генерала Михаиловића са Савезницима у току Другог светског рата.

Михаиловић је у западним медијима у току рата приказан као херој - холивудски филм, радио драма са Орсоном Велсом, амерички стрипови и насловница Тајм магазина сведоче о глорификацији.

Као начелник главног штаба Југословенске војске, генерал Михаиловић је од септембра 1941. до децембра 1944. године примио више десетина савезничких мисија на ратиштима широм окупиране Краљевине Југославије.

Сазнајте о Михаиловићевим контактима са Британцима, Совјетима и Американцима, који су крунисани акцијом спасавања америчких авијатичара из немачког обруча 1944. године.

Продуцент филма је Раша Драшковић.


http://www.rts.rs/page/tv/ci/story/18/%D0%A0%D0%A2%D0%A1+2/1899035/%D0%93%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BB+%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B+-+%D0%A5%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%98+%D0%B8+%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0.html

*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****

Monday, April 27, 2015

THE JASENOVAC EXTERMINATION CAMP - "TERROR IN CROATIA" / "Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team"


Aleksandra's Note: No matter how many phony "Remembrance" ceremonies and "Holocaust Commemorations" Croatia "officially" holds around this time of year, Croatia cannot wipe the blood off of its hands with disinformation, distortions, dismissals, revisions of their own history which their own Allies witnessed firsthand, and outright lies.

The following is an informative and compelling summary of the pride and joy of Croatia during World War Two - the JASENOVAC death camp that rivals even the worst of the Nazi camps in the crimes against humanity that were perpetrated there against the Christian Orthodox Serbs, the Jews, the Gypsies, and the Croatian citizens who dared to resist the Ustasha methods of governing.

The words paint a graphic, unforgettable picture of four years in the life of the death camps established by the Croatian regime and its sadists and butchers on the territory known as the "Independent State of Croatia" during World War II - a territory which included much of Bosnia and Hercegovina at that time.

Don't ever let a Croat tell you that the Ustashe were "extremists" that did not represent the official government or military of the Independent State of Croatia. And don't ever let a Croat tell you that their legacy is not alive and well TODAY in the 21st Century in Croatia.

Warning: The material below is very graphic in nature, and these are not embellishments or exaggerations.

May God have mercy on the souls of the people who perished in these camps and may their sacrifice not have been in vain.

Sincerely,
Aleksandra Rebic
April 2015


Stone Flower monument dedicated to victims of Jasenovac
Photo by Petar Milošević / Wikipedia Commons
 

THE JASENOVAC EXTERMINATION CAMP
 
"TERROR IN CROATIA"


www.HolocaustResearchProject.org
Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team

 The Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941. Vladko Maček, the leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) which was the most influential party in Croatia at the time, rejected offers by the Nazi Germany to lead the new government. On 10 April the most senior home-based Ustaša, Slavko Kvaternik, took control of the police in Zagreb and in a radio broadcast that day proclaimed the formation of the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH).

The new Independent State of Croatia" was established as a pro-Nazi government. It was dedicated to a clerical-fascist ideology influenced both by Nazism and extreme Roman Catholic fanaticism. On coming to power, the Ustaša Party dictatorship in Croatia quickly commenced on a systematic policy of racial extermination of all Serbs, Jews and Gypsies living within its borders.

The NDH was ruled by Ante Pavelic under the title Poglavnik, or "Headman". Pavelic served as leader of the Independent State of Croatia, a puppet state of the Axis Powers, throughout the four years of its existence, but since the Ustaše did not have a capable army or administration necessary to control the territory, the Germans and the Italians split the NDH into two zones of influence, one in the southwest controlled by the Italians (with Pavelić as Headman), and the other in the northeast controlled by the Germans.

Pavelić first met with Adolf Hitler on June 6, 1941. Mile Budak, then a minister in Pavelić's government, publicly proclaimed the violent racial policy of the state on 22 July 1941. The Ustaša's organization was a typically fascist organization and its military strength was an instrument for the implementation of the Ustaša's Nazi ideology.

The first "Legal order for the defense of the people and the state" dated April 17, 1941 ordered the death penalty for "infringement of the honor and vital interests of the Croatian people and the survival of the Independent State of Croatia". It was soon followed by the "Legal order of races" and the "Legal order of the protection of Aryan blood and the honor of the Croatian people" dated April 30, 1941, as well as the "Order of the creation and definition of the racial-political committee" dated June 4, 1941.

The enforcement of these legal acts was done not only through normal courts but also new out-of-order courts as well as mobile court-martials with extended jurisdictions.

The NDH Ustaša terror was also aimed at the Serbian Orthodox Church. Three Orthodox bishops and most of the Orthodox priests were murdered by the end of 1941 in the cruelest of manners. During the war, 450 Orthodox churches were demolished. Mass conversions were forced upon Serb villagers but the exact number of Serbs forcibly converted to Catholicism has never been established.

One Orthodox Serb from Okučani reported:

"The new government told me that I’d have to convert to Roman Catholicism if I wanted to keep my job. I refused and was fired in July 1941. I moved my family to the nearby town of Okučani where I managed to find work. But in Okučani I was arrested, once by the Germans and once by the Croatian fascists. Both of those times I was released. Now I’ve been arrested yet again by the Croatian fascists. My crime—being a Serb."

The Ustaša army (Ustaška vojnica) was organized by Slavko Kvaternik, and it was made up of Ustaša units (filled out with volunteers) under the direction of the Central Ustaša Headquarters, of special police units (redarstvo) and the Home Guard (domobrani), and in August of 1941 the Ustaša Secret Service was formed by Ustaša Security Service Kommando Eugen Dido Kvaternik who also oversaw the concentration camp system throughout the sphere of Ustaša control.

In the early stages of the Ustaša rule there were no legal regulations about sending people to concentration camps or the length of sentences. Such things were decided by Pavelić's emissaries, district prefects, deputy prefects, camp supervisors and other Ustaša commanders. Such practices remained even later, and when the regulations were finally passed, no one actually obeyed them.

The first camps in the NDH were founded on the island of Pag at the place called Slano, on Mount Velebit near Gospić at a place called Jadovno, and in Bosnia at Kruščica near Travnik. Besides Jasenovac, the larger camps were:

-Danica
-Pag
-Jadovno near Gospić
-Kruščica near Vitez and Travnik in Bosnia
-Đakovo
-Loborgrad in Zagorje
-Tenja near Osijek

The establishment of the Jasenovac Camp System

Jasenovac was established in August, 1941 and was dismantled in April, 1945. The creation and management of the camp complex were given to Department III of the Croatian Security Police (Ustashka Nadzorna Sluzba; UNS) which was headed by Vjekoslav Maks Luburic, who commanded the Jasenovac camp.

The camp spread out over 210 square kilometers, along the Sava River from Stara Gradiska in the east to the village Krap1je in the west, and from Strug in the north to the line between Draksenic to Bistrica in the south.

The choice of the wider region of Jasenovac for such a monstrous camp was made for several reasons. One of them was certainly the suitable geographic position. The Zagreb-Belgrade railway was in the vicinity and was important for the transport of the prisoners. The terrain was surrounded by the rivers Sava, Una and Velika Struga, in the middle of the swampy Lonjsko poije area, so that escape from the camp was almost impossible.

On the other side of the Sava, the Gradina region was hardly accessible and often flooded by the river, uninhabited and far from all witnesses. It was the ideal place for hiding mass murders.

Jasenovac became the largest and most important concentration camp (sabirni logor) and extermination camp complex in the Nezavisna Hrvatska Drzava (NDH), Independent State of Croatia, during World War II. The Jasenovac concentration camp complex would be crucial in the systematic and planned genocide of the Orthodox Serbs of the Srpska Vojna Krajina and of Bosnia-Hercegovina by the Croats and Bosnian Muslims.

Other concentration camps were established in Sisak, Stara Gradiska, Djakovo, Lepoglava, Loborgrad. In all, there would be 22 concentration camps in the NDH, almost half of which were commanded by Roman Catholic Croatian priests.

The first transports brought Serbs and Jews to the nearby village of Krapje, which was 7 miles west of Jasenovac. At this site, the prisoners were forced to build the camp that was called Jasenovac Camp No. 1. A second camp was built after the increase in the number of prisoners called Camp No.2.

Camp No.3 was built near the Ciglara brick factory, Ozren Bacic & Company, at the mouth of the Lonja and downstream from Jasenovac. Camp No.4 was built in Jasenovac itself near the former leather factory. The camp at the nearby town of Stara Gradiska is referred to as Camp No.5.

The maximum capacity of all the camps was 7,000 prisoners but usually only 4,000 prisoners were there at any one time.

Jasenovac was in fact a system or complex of concentration and extermination camps occupying a surface of 130 square miles, set up under decree-law, No. 1528-2101-Z-1941, on September 25,1941, legally authorizing the creation of 'assembly or work camps for undesirable and dangerous persons.

The Ustaše interned mostly Serbs in Jasenovac. Other victims included Jews, Bosniaks,Gypsies, and opponents of the Ustaša regime. Most of the Jews were murdered there until August 1942, when they started being deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Jews were sent to Jasenovac from all parts of Croatia after being gathered in Zagreb, and from Bosnia and Herzegovina after being gathered in Sarajevo.

Some came directly from other cities and smaller towns. On their arrival most were killed at execution sites near the camp: Granik, Gradina, and other places. Those kept alive were mostly skilled at needed professions and trades (doctors, pharmacists, electricians, shoemakers, goldsmiths, and so on) and were employed in services and workshops at Jasenovac.

The living conditions in the camp were extremely severe: a meager diet, deplorable accommodations, a particularly cruel regime, and cruel behavior by the Ustaše guards. The conditions improved only for short periods during visits by delegations, such as the press delegation that visited in February 1942 and a Red Cross delegation in June 1944.

Following the Wannsee Conference of January 20, 1942, where the 'Final Solution to the Jewish Problem' was formulated, the Germans proposed through SS Sturmbannfuehrer Hans Helm that the Croats transfer Jewish prisoners to German camps in the east.

Kvaternik, agreed that the NDH would arrest the Jews, take them to railheads, and pay the Germans 30 Reich marks per person for the cost of transport to the extermination camps in the east. The Germans agreed that the property of the Jews would go to the Croat government.

SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Franz Abromeit was sent to supervise the deportations to Auschwitz. From August 13-20,1942, 5,500 Jews from the NDH were transpoted to Aushwitz on five trains from the Croat concentration camps at Tenje and Loborgrad and from Zagreb and Sarajevo.

Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler was on a state visit to Zagreb in May,1943 when two trains on May 5 and 10 trasported 1,150 Jews to Auschwitz.

Wholesale murder of the prisoners was also carried out in the forest near the Krapje Camp, near the „Versaj“ Camp and „Uštica“ Camp on the whole left bank of the Sava, downriver from Jasenovac to Jablanac and Mlaka.

Furthermore, within the complex of Camp III there was also a crematorium which was actually an oven for baking bricks, that the Ustaša converted for the use burning the bodies of their victims.

The crematorium became known as "Picili's Funaceo" after the designer of the oven conversion plan, Hinko Picili.

In addition to the horrendous conditions in the Jasenovac camps, the guards also cruelly tortured, terrorized, and murdered prisoners at will. Here the most varied forms of torture were used: finger and toe nails were pulled out with metal instruments, eyes were dug out with specially constructed hooks, people were blinded by having needles stuck in their eyes, flesh was cut and then salted.

People were also flayed, had their noses, ears and tongues cut off with wire cutters, and had awls stuck in their hearts. Daughters were raped in front of their mothers, sons were tortured in front of their fathers.

The prisoners and all those who ended up in Jasenovac had their throats cut by the Ustaša with specially designed knives, or they were killed with axes, mallets and hammers; they were also shot, or they were hung from trees or light poles. Some were burned alive in hot furnaces, boiled in cauldrons, or drowned in the River Sava.

The acts of violence and depravity commited in Jasenovac were so brutal that General von Horstenau, Hitler's representative in Zagreb, wrote:

"The Ustaša camps in the NDH are the "Epitome of horror"!

Stara Gradiska

Stara Gradiska was the most notorious camp in the Jasenovac complex besides the main camp (Ciglana), mainly due to the crimes which were committed against women and children.

Camp staff, Antun Vrban, Nada Luburic, Maja Buzdon, Jozo Stojcic, and especially the commandant and former-friar Miroslav Filipovic-Majstorovic, were notorious both in Jasenovac and Stara Gradiska, for killing scores of inmates with his bare hands, women and children included.

In in cellar 3 at Stara Gradiska, (known as the "Gagro Hotel"), starved inmates were first tortured and then slowly strangled to death by wire.

In the Dinko Sakic trial, witness Ivo Senjanovic recalled how people were locked there without food or water:

"The people were gradually dying. It was horrible to hear them cry for help."

The treatment of inmates was so horrific that on the night of August 29, 1942, bets were made among the prison guards as to who could liquidate the largest number of inmates. One of the guards, Petar Brzica reportedly cut the throats of 1,360 prisoners with a butcher knife. A gold watch, a silver service, a roasted suckling pig, and wine were among his rewards.

The type of knife used for cutting prisoners' throats became known as srbosjek translated as the "Serb-cutter". Because of his expertise with the sbosjek, Petar Brzica was dubbed "King of the Cut-throats".

It is estimated that close to 600,000 (depending on who's statistics you agree with), mostly Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, were murdered at Jasenovac.

The number of Jewish victims was between twenty and twenty-five thousand, most of whom were murdered there up to August 1942, when deportation of the Croatian Jews to Auschwitz for extermination began.

Statistics for Romani victims are difficult to assess, as there are no firm estimates of their number in prewar Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The best estimates calculate the number of Romani victims at about 26,000, of whom between 8,000 and 15,000 perished in Jasenovac.

There are only loose estimates for the number of Croats murdered by the Ustaša. This group included political and religious opponents of the regime, both Catholic and Muslim. Between 5,000 and 12,000 Croats are believed to have died in Jasenovac.

In early April 1945, the partisans were fighting nearby Jasenovac and its subcamps, so the Ustase began eliminating traces of the camp, killing some of the inmates and transporting others to Lepoglava and from there to Jasenovac I.

The ultimate liquidation of the Camp was begun on April 20, when the last large group of women and children was executed. On April 22, 1945, under the leadership of Ante Vukotic, about 600 people armed with bricks, poles, hammers and other things, broke down the doors, shattered windows and ran out of the building. About 470 people were sick and unable to fight barehanded with the armed Ustaša, so they did not take part in the rebellion.

The 150 meter long path to the east gate of the camp was covered by the crossfire of the Ustaša machine guns, and many prisoners were killed there. A large number of them was killed on the wires of the camp. A hundred prisoners managed to break through the broken gate of the camp. Only 80 prisoners survived while 520 of them died in the first assault. The remaining 470 within the camp were later killed by the Ustaša.

Yugoslav Army forces entered the Stara Gradiska camp on April 23, and Jasenovac on May 2, 1945. Before leaving the camp, the Ustaša killed the remaining prisoners, blasted and destroyed the buildings, guard-houses, torture rooms, the "Picili Furnace" and the other structures. Upon entering the camp, the liberators found only ruins, soot, smoke, and dead bodies.

During the following months of 1945, the grounds of Jasenovac were thoroughly destroyed by forced laborers, composed of 200 to 600 Domobran soldiers captured by the Partisans, thereby making the area a labor camp. They leveled the camp to the ground and among other things dismantled a two-kilometer long, four-meter high wall that surrounded it.

The National Committee of Croatia for the investigation of the crimes of the occupation forces and their collaborators stated in its report of November 15, 1945 that 500,000-600,000 people were killed at Jasenovac.

______________

Sources:

Dedijer, Vladimir. The Yugoslav Auschwitz and the Vatican: The Croatian Massacre of the Serbs during World War II. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1992.
Romans, J. Jews of Yugoslavia, 1941- 1945: Victims of Genocide and Freedom Fighters, Belgrade, 1982.

Fotich, Konstantin. The War We Lost: Yugoslavia's Tragedy and the Failure of the West. New York: Viking Press, 1948.
Brochure of the Jasenovac Research Institute, written by JRI Research Director Barry Lituchy, (c) 2000.
Gutman, Israel, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. 4 vols. New York:
Ustaša Camps by Mirko Percen, Globus, Zagreb, 1966. Second expanded printing 1990.
Ustashi and the Independent State of Croatia 1941-1945, by Fikreta Jelic-Butic, Liber, Zagreb, 1977.

US National Archives

*Special thanks to the USHMM [United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]
 
 
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/othercamps/jasenovac.html


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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Saturday, April 25, 2015

Гранд при за документарац “Краљевина Југославија у Другом светском рату“ ! / "Pogledi" April 23, 2015

Pogledi
April 23, 2015

 
Документарни филм “Краљевина Југославија у Другом светском рату“ у продукцији НИП “Погледи“ добио је Гранд при на 10. међународном фестивалу документарног филма “Златна буклија“ у Великој Плани.

Филм је награђен у области “Уметност – историја“, с образложењем:

“За дуготрајно и темељно истраживање драматичних догађаја на тлу Србије и у свету током Другог светског рата“.

Председник жирија, који је саопштио награде 20. априла 2015, био је проф. Никола Лоренцин, режисер “Равногорске читанке“, прве ТВ серије са другачијим виђењем Другог светског рата која је објављена на Радио телевизији Србије.

Проф. Лоренцин је на фестивалу добио награду за животно дело.

На 10. фестивал “Златна буклија“ било је пријављено преко 150 филмова.

Више о документарцу:

http://kingdom-of-yugoslavia-in-ww2.com/
 
 
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
 
 
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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

VIDEO / Astonishing film explores depths of GENOCIDE DENIAL IN CROATIA / Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles / "Britić - The British Serb magazine" April 22, 2015


Aleksandra's Note: Many thanks to Stan Smiljanic of "Britić" for sharing this information today, as we mark the 70th anniversary of remembering one of World War Two's most notorious death camps, Jasenovac. The current 21st century Croatian mentality towards one of the most horrific chapters in their own history as revealed here through this documentary film footage cannot, and must not, be dismissed.

Sincerely,
Aleksandra Rebic

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Britić - The British Serb magazine
April 22, 2015

As Serbs living in Britain and elsewhere, perhaps we think we know enough about the genocide that was conducted against our people during WW2 in the Independent State of Croatia. Perhaps we should leave history to the past and instead focus on something positive today rather than dwell on painful memories from 70 years ago. Watch this film, it will change your mind.

 
Public service broadcaster for Republika Srpska in Bosnia, RTRS, has transmitted this documentary about modern day attitudes to Jasenovac, the Ustaše extermination camp where more than 700,000 people were slaughtered. Most victims were Serbs but among them a huge number of Roma, Jews and others.

The programme asks modern day Croatians, including students of Zagreb University a simple question. The answers will astound you.

What does Jasenovac mean to you?

- Not much.

- I have a seminar now, I really can’t think about stuff like that, sorry.

- I couldn’t care less, it holds no importance to me. None at all.

Do you know how many people died at Jasenovac?

- No.

- 20,000.

- That depends who is interpreting. If it is interpreted by enemies of the Homeland, then it is quite a lot. If interpreted by the friends of the Homeland, then it is different story.

Which people were mostly killed at Jasenovac?

- Jews, I guess.

- It is very well known who died there, Croats died there mostly.

- Croats, 100%.

- I think that lots of Communist Croats were killed there, then Roma… and even Serbs.

Willful Ignorance?

In the reaction of some Croatian passersby one might perceive a casual malevolence against the victims of Jasenovac. For others, this unreconciled chapter of the nation’s history may simply be too excruciating to speak of and yet in a more genuine ignorance appears to be exhibited. Programme makers explore how such disturbing ignorance is able to persist in the most recent member state of the European Union. From the holocaust deniers (“Jasenovac was a labour camp with recreational facilities”) whose claims to be serious historians go unchallenged – indeed are supported by – ruling elites to more highly regarded journalists who simply cannot bring themselves to admit the enormity of the genocide perpetrated at Jasenovac death camp.

Today, Jasenovac houses a Memorial Centre where the curator has decided not to show a single picture of its victims. This scant remembrance is contrasted with the Austrian death camp at Mathausen where 120,000 people were slaughtered, among them 7,000 Serbs. This space in Austria observes a complete silence in the crematorium and its exhibits do not shy away from an attempt to portray something of the horror of the atrocities committed within its walls.

Who is to blame?

After the war and up to the present day, Jews around the world have stepped up to the responsibility of ensuring the millions of victims of Nazi genocide are never forgotten and that such hatred should never be allowed to take root again. Programme makers observe the more casual “why rake up the past” approach we Serbs have to remembering our own victims and the scenes of these horrific events.

As Serbs in Britain we have the opportunity to write to our MEPs (click here) and ask, how can this neo-Ustaše renaissance in Croatia go unobserved?

Watch this programme by clicking below:

"What does Jasenovac mean to Croatian people today?"

Posted on You Tube by "RTRS vijesti"
Published on Apr 20, 2015

Od podsjećanja i opomene na Јasenovačko zlo u Hrvatskoj je ostalo onoliko koliko mora da istorija ne bi bila do kraja ponižena.

Denis Bojić je za magazin "Pečat" istraživao šta je danas Јasenovac Hrvatima.
UPOZORAVAMO DA ODREĐENI KADROVI VIDEO PRILOGA MOGU BITI UZNEMIRUЈUĆI
http://goo.gl/yaaCyb

 



https://youtu.be/M30ezGCIRqo


http://www.ebritic.com/?p=473033


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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