LABOUR CAMP JASENOVAC

Book excerpt: The Ustasha camp in Jasenovac is a sensitive historical theme, which still provokes strong political conflicts more than 70 years after the closure of the camp. During the time of the second Yugoslavia, the camp was made into a myth and one of the main levers for disciplining the society of the time. The Communist Party imposed the number of 700,000 victims and an exaggerated view of the alleged crimes and methods of killing inmates. The aim was to present itself as sole guarantor of security, because in the case of its "reigning-in", the fratricidal war would happen again, with Jasenovac as its main symbol. Before 1990, an attempt to point out the absurdity of the 700,000 alleged victims of Jasenovac entailed going to prison or compulsory psychiatric treatment. The documents referenced in this book indicate the need to continue with research of the Jasenovac camp and that in a democratic atmosphere, as far as possible, its realistic historical picture may be reached.