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Dr. Sc. Matko Marusic

THE TIME TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT JASENOVAC HAS ARRIVED

The truth about (WWII) Jasenovac prison camp is only partially known; certainly not sufficiently to discern between myth and reality. Simply indescribable and unbelievable are lies and distortions about that prison camp which are ill used to falsely, with malice accuse Croatian nationals and Croatia. These invented lies are used to counteract, minimize and confuse the historical truth, attack the Croatian honor, values and democracy, and augment political division between Croatian left and right political spectrums.

All of this activity is a functional part of the process of creating Great Serbia, a concept which is already being referred to as the “Serbian world”. The process of examining the hard reality of Jasenovac has accumulated many documents which must be at this time prepared in defending against the increasing political accusations which are significantly more aggressive and because the Croatian public must have the right to know the truth.

Therefore, I am using this format to appeal to the administration of Republic of Croatia to collect all the pertinent documentation, to summarize the professional assessments, and thereafter amply inform the Croatian citizenry on the findings. Such documentation must be used to counter the Serbian accusations which Serbia alone is pushing into the international discussion spheres. There are three primary reasons for this request.

FIRST PREMISE

The resignation of Ivo Pejakovic, director of the public Memorial-park (JUSP)

Jasenovac was imperative

Ivo Pejakovic, director of the public Memorial-park (JUSP) Jasenovac submitted his resignation after the internet platform CroFacta, an entity which validates information accuracy, published on May 19 an article authored by Vladimir Geiger (https://www.crofacta.hr./objave/jusp-jasenovac) in which it indicates that the information published on web pages JUSP-Jasenovac, is inaccurate. This information was disseminated through majority of the Croatian media. Truly, the issue is plainly a disgusting lie; therefore, I congratulate CroFacta and the honorable professor Geiger. In his statements to the media, Pejakovic refused to identify the individual author of the Jasenovac lie; therefore I must insist that the proper government Oversight committee must identify the author. The five members of the Oversight committee are: Matea Brstilo Resetar, (president of the Croatian historical museum), Tomislav Petrinec ( Committee for protecton of cultural heritage), Mario Kevo (Croatian Catholic university), Marija Kusmis (appointed by recommendation of the Ministry of environmental protection and energy) and Martin Baresic (curator JUSP Jasenovac). In addition, I believe that this entire body should submit their resignation not only because of the findings of CroFacta but because of their stoic insistence in negating the documentation which indicates that the list of victims is inaccurate ( book by Nikola Banic and Mladen Koic- The Jasenovac list- False victims; Zagreb, Tkanica 2023) and in its entirety falsified, as demonstrated by the Nikola Banic and Neven Elezovic (https://www.hkv.hr/iydvojeno/vai/prilozi/ostalo/prilozi-graana/36156-m-marusic-i-j-pecaric-popis-jasenovackih-zrtava-je-netocan.html).

SECOND PREMISE

Serbia threatens that it will request a UN resolution

regarding the Jasenovac genocide.

The General Assembly of the UN is in the process of addressing the Resolution on Genocide in Srebrenica, committed in 1995. (https.//www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/svijet/usuglasen-konacni-prijedlog-resolucije-o-genocidu-u-srebrenici-bijes-u-beogradu-znate-li-sto-sada-to-znaci-15456454). Following its habitual, unbelievable and irrational analyses, the Serbian government announced that it will (possibly in some sort of vengeance ?) request from the General Assembly to address a Resolution on genocide in Jasenovac and in Kragujevac, and “Oluja”, and elsewhere). Croatia must immediately prepare the pertinent response documentation regardless of personalities and/or institutions which might not like the truthful findings. Such documentation should immediately be made public. A full compendium of pertinent data should be timely and readily available to counter the Serbian initiative at UN. The irrefutable documents will be submitted herein.

THIRD PREMISE

Montenegro has forwarded to its parliament the outline

for their resolution on the Jasenovac genocide.

It might be superfluous to waste time and space regarding the melancholic politics of Montenegro whose parliament is led by Chetnik leader Nikola Mandic: however, let me inform the readers that Montenegro has prepared a Resolution on the Jasenovac genocide intending to submit it to a voting procedure. (https://n1info.hr/vijesti/crna-gora-donosi-rezoluciju-o-jasenovcu-analiticar-to je-potpuno-besmisleno-a-reakcija-hrvatske-je-problematicna/). This process is a portrait of simpleton’s attempt to emulate Serbia. In a typical subservient behavior Montenegro will most probably vote FOR the Srebrenica resolution at the UN General Assembly. Thus, Croatia must react here as well preparing the pertinent documentation regarding the reality of Jasenovac.

JASENOVAC: THREE UNDISPUTABLE ITEMS

When all the marginal and unclear elements are excluded from the Jasenovac analyses, three items remain undisputable:

a. THE LIST OF VICTIMS OF THE PUBLIC MEMORIAL PARK-( JUSP)

JASENOVAC IS FALSIFIED DATA. The proof has been authored by Nikola Banic and Mladen Koic , (“Jasenovac – falsified victims list: Zagreb, Tkanica, 2023), and by Nikola Banic and Neven Elezovic as published in a world class scientific publication, IEEE Access. (https://www.hkv.hr/izdvojeno/val-prilozi/ostalo/prilozi-graana/36156-mmarusic-i-j-pecaric-popis-jasenovackih-zrtava-je-netocan.html).

b. STATISTICS CLEARLY INDICATE THAT AFTER WWII THE TOTAL CROATIAN POPULATION WAS NUMERICALLY SMALLER THAN BEFORE THE START OF THE WAR. Conversely, the Serb population after the war was numerically larger than before the start of the war. The comparison of the Croatian data was done by Vladimir Mrkoci and Vladimir Horvat (The Naked Lie of Jasenovac camp, Zagreb. Naklada E.Cic, 2008) and Stjepan Sterc (The Great-serbian statistics on victims - nullified!, Portal HKV, 16 March, 2017.) Both compendia arrived to the same conclusions. Identical results have been also reached by Stjepan Loze analysis (Ideology and propaganda of the great-serbian genocide of Croatians / Project Homogenous Serbia 1941, Split, Naklada Boskovic, 2017) and the work of Banic and Elezovic in the already mentioned Jasenovac-falsified victims list. The final conclusion is that Croatian victims were substantially higher than Serbian victims. If indeed the genocide was committed, the victims were the Croatians.

Documents about the Jasenovac camp

c. ALL EXUMATIONS OF VICTIMS (FROM 1945 TO 1976) RESULTED IN DISCOVERY OF LESS THAN 500 INDIVIDUAL REMAINS OF PEOPLE WHO DIED IN JASENOVAC. Stipo Pilic and Blanka Matkovic produced a detailed description of the three formal, court ordered medical exumations performed by professional experts in 1964. The experts were selected by the Tito regime (Pilic S, Matkovic B. “Postwar prisoner camp Jasenovac according to testimonies and new archive analyses. Institute of historical science, Academy of Arts and Sciences, Zadar, 2014; 56: 323-408). Exumations were led by forensic physicians from Ljubljana Alojz Sercelj, Anton Pogacnik and Vida Brodar , and Srboljub Zivanovic from Novi Sad. The selected exumation sites were focused on having been identified as “ the largest existing mass graves in the Gradina location where, Serbia insisted, were hundreds of thousands of intered victims. The formal official findings of the working commission are found in the Croatian national archives in Zagreb. To emphasize: all formal exumations, ever conducted on the site of Jasenovac region documented less than 500 human remains of victims of undefined nationality, time and cause of death.

It is worthwhile to examine many of the documents and photographs in volumes published about Jasenovac by many authors. The first obvious impression is that much of this data, frequently duplicated from one book to another, is simply falsified and not pertaining to the Jasenovac site at all! Falsification of such material can be identified with relative ease; however, no such comparison has ever been initiated by any Jasenovac promoting entity. Hence, and despite ad nauseam references to mass liquidations the truth remains that the entire narrative is false.

Note 1. As presented in details by Igor Vukic in his works “Jasenovac-work camp” (Zagreb: Naklada Pavicic, 2018) and “Jasenovac, daily” (Zagreb, Naklada Pavicic, 2019), the camp was indeed a work camp. Those who attempted to escape we executed; those Ustashe guards who either stole from or killed any prisoner, were invariably punished and executed by the firing squad as well. This fact is supported by additional investigations: “Jasenovac camp-investigations”, Vladimir Horvat, Igor Vukic, Stipe Pilic and Blanka Matkovic, Commission to investigate the threefold camp Jasenovac, Zagreb, 2015).

Author Vukic was often criticized, as is well illustrated by the attack of professor Mirjana Kasapovic: ”Vukic’s book on Jasenovac is a toxic literature; regardless of his intentions, he created a pro-Ustasha pseudohistoriographic (sic!) work.” Her entire, lengthy criticism is void of a single argument indicating that Vucic reported anything wrong. Her entire blabber is irrelevant as is the entire myth about Jasenovac as promoted and propagated by Ivo Goldstein and associates.

Note 2. Additional work that merits attention is “ The real Jasenovac” (Tomislav Vukovic, Zagreb, Society for investigation of threefold camp Jasenovac, 2022.); a short and impressive work.

Academician Josip Pecaric authored the “Uncovered Jasenovac Lie” (Zagreb, 2018, co-author Stjepan Razum). Author Razum was particularly sharply attacked because he is a priest (https:/kamenjar.com/stjepan-razum-da-dokazali-smo-da je-jasenovac-otrovna-sramotna-laz#google_vignette) and because he participated in the project which uncovered 14,000 falsified victim names ( double or triple use) on the master list of Jasenovac victims.

Roman Leljak authored “The Jasenovac Myth” (Radenci , Slovenia, Society Za riziskovanje zgodovine, 2018.) The work contains several hundred documents of which more than 100 pertain to camp Jasenovac. They clearly uncover the falsehoods and distortions regarding the prison camp.

Interesting and revealing are the works of Mladen Ivezic, Vladimir Horvat, Marija Keva and others. All these works should be used by the government institutions in the process of addressing the Serbian and Montenegran initiatives.

TWO RED CROSS REPORTS

1. The Jasenovac camp was visited on February 6, 1942 by the representatives of the Croatian Red Cross, Serbian Red Cros from Belgrade, Giuseppe Marconi, a Secretary of the Vatican Emmissary to Croatia Ramiro Marcone and Stjepan Lackovic, Secretary of Archbishop Stepinac. The visiting delegation had several foreign journalists and diplomats from various countries, allied with Germany. The visiting commission finding were written by a Bulgarian national Petar Lungov. There is not a single reference of executions in any of the submitted reports.

2. In 1942, the International Red Cross sent Julius Schmidlin to Zagreb. In 1943 he became a permanent Red Cross Emissary to NDH. He had authority to oversee the entire flow of assistance of food and medicine into Jasenovac and Stara Gradiska as well as the prison farm Gredani. He made public extensive report pertinent to these activities. No comments whatsoever were recorded regarding any executions.

CONCLUSIONS

The primary intent of this essay is to call the attention of the Croatian administration to antagonistic political initiatives of the government in Serbia and Montenegro and the scandal and resignation of Ivo Pejakovic. These events indicate that the time has arrived to publically, officially and legally address the issue of Jasenovac in WWII. The secondary purpose is to provide the uninformed about sources and documents about the camp which need to be analyzed to arrive to the truth. The time has come to expose those who individually or backed by private groups, cliques and government institutions propagated a false narrative for decades. As the responsibility of government in uncovering the truth becomes imperative, the house of cards is about to collapse.