Sisak children's concentration camp
Encyclopedia
Sisak children's concentration camp was a concentration camp during World War II
, set up by the Croatian
pro-nazi Ustaše
government for Serbian
, Jewish and Roma children. The camp was located in Sisak
, Croatia
. It was part of the Jasenovac
cluster of concentration and death camps and of the wider Nazi-controlled genocidal
effort across Europe
.
.The children, aged between 3 and 16, were housed in abandoned stables, ridden with filth and pests. Malnutrition and dysentery seriously impaired the children's health. They were fed daily with a portion of thin gruel and treated horribly by the Ustaše guards. "Witnesses recount seeing an Ustasha soldier pick up a child by the legs and smash its head against a wall until it was dead, ..." The Red-Cross noticed the existence of the camp, and even tried to be of use and aid to the children, subsequently obtaining the release of some children, while others were poisoned with caustic soda later on. Estimates state over 1600 died.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, set up by the Croatian
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
pro-nazi Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
government for Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
, Jewish and Roma children. The camp was located in Sisak
Sisak
Sisak is a city in central Croatia. The city's population in 2011 was 33,049, with a total of 49,699 in the administrative region and it is also the administrative centre of the Sisak-Moslavina county...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. It was part of the Jasenovac
Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp was the largest extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia and occupied Yugoslavia during World War II...
cluster of concentration and death camps and of the wider Nazi-controlled genocidal
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
effort across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Prelude
In the town of Sisak, situated nigh the town of Jasenovac, Ustaše presence was vigilant. Early in 1942, The local synagogue was robbed utterly, and the building later housed a worker's hall. The settlers of Sisak were quickly brought to Ustaše attention, and those of them that were of Serbian or Jewish kinship were tormented. One example is Miloš Teslić, a Serbian philanthropist, who was tortured gravely: his eyes were cut out, his arms were sawn off, all while his chest was being burned with a hot iron and his heart cut out.The camp
The camp held more than 6600 Serbian, Jewish and Roma children throughout World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.The children, aged between 3 and 16, were housed in abandoned stables, ridden with filth and pests. Malnutrition and dysentery seriously impaired the children's health. They were fed daily with a portion of thin gruel and treated horribly by the Ustaše guards. "Witnesses recount seeing an Ustasha soldier pick up a child by the legs and smash its head against a wall until it was dead, ..." The Red-Cross noticed the existence of the camp, and even tried to be of use and aid to the children, subsequently obtaining the release of some children, while others were poisoned with caustic soda later on. Estimates state over 1600 died.