in detail
On 10 April 1941 the German Wehrmacht and its allies invaded Yugoslavia. The Fascist Ustasha movement was given permission to establish the "Independent State of Croatia".
From 1941 to 1945, Jasenovac and its most important satellite Stara Gradiška were the largest concentration camp in Croatia. According to almost identical statements by the Croatian historian Vladimir Cerjavic and the Serb Bobljub Kocovic, between 80,000 and 100,000 persons were murdered there, including 45,000 to 52,000 Serbs, 13,000 Jews, 12,000 dissident Croats and Muslims and 10,000 Roma.
The figures on victims there varied significantly in the post-war period depending on the political winds. In Tito's Yugoslavia, the figure given was 700,000 victims. At the beginning of the civil war, the Croatian Prime Minister Franjo Tudzman, himself a historian, gave the figure of 25,000 murdered at Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška.
In 1966, with the dedication of the monument »Flower« by Bogdan Bogdanovi ć, the Memorial Jasenovac was opened. The museum was dedicated in 1968.
The Memorial, heavily damaged in the civil war 1991-1995, was reopened to the public on 16 March 2004. The opening of a new permanent exhibition is planned for 2005. An educational department will strengthen the pedagogical activities of the museum.
The camp established in 1941 was under the control of the Croatan Security Police. They blew up the camp in 1945 as partisans were nearing and killed all the inmates.
Work was begun in 1965 on the building of a Memorial, which was expanded in 1968 by the addition of a museum. The civil war interrupted work on the Memorial, which was resumed in 2004.
10. April 1941
German Wehrmacht and its allies occupy Yugoslavia. The »Independent State of Croatia« is set up by the fascist Ustasha movement.
1941–1945
Murder of 80,000 to 100,000 persons in Jasenovac, the largest concentration camp in Croatia.
1966
Creation of the monument »Flower« by Bogdan Bogdanović on the grounds of the former concentration camp.
1968
Opening of the museum an the edge of the grounds of the concentration camp.
1991–1995
Memorial close to the border with Bosnia Herzegovina badly damaged.
16 March 2004
The renovated monument by Bogdan Bogdanović is opened once again to the public in the presence of the Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.
2005
Planned opening of the new permanent exhibition and an educational department in the museum.
Jasenovac, 1940s, objects of prisoners on the way to the place of execution, Memorial Jasenovac (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)
Jasenovac, 2004, Sculpture »Flower« by Bogdan Bogdanović on the historical grounds of the concentration camp, Thomas Lutz.
Jasenovac, 2004, building of the museum at the edge of the historical camp grounds, Thomas Lutz.
Jasenovac, 1940s, woman and child, probably Muslim, Memorial Jasenovac (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
