The Holocaust represents the genocide against the Jews, which was systematically planned and carried out by the German Nazis and their collaborators throughout the occupied Europe during the World War II.
During the World War II the mass killings and crimes were committed against other groups of people, too, such as: the genocide against the Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia, the genocide against the Roma, a mass murder of the people with disabilities in Germany, Soviet prisoners of war, the murders of the handicapped, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political dissidents, mass atrocities that resulted in an immense number of victims among the Soviet and the Polish civilians, to mention just some. We must remember all victims with dignity and respect, while all crimes must be researched objectively and scientifically all the time so that we can understand their particularities, historical context and social processes which led to them, recognize who the perpetrators and victims were, who else participated and what their roles were, as well as the scope of these crimes and their consequences, which are often felt to this day.
As for the sufferings of the Serbs, Yugoslav Jews and Roma during the World War II in Yugoslavia, in Serbia and the Independent State of Croatia in particular, all three groups were targeted by the Germans, German allies that attacked and occupied Yugoslavia, and their local collaborators. At many killing sites Serbs, Yugoslav Jews and Roma were executed together and many fought together in the Yugoslav resistance movement. Yugoslav Jews, Serbs and Roma share this common historical experience. All these victims of persecution should be commemorated and remembered, and the memory of the joint resistance should be cherished with pride.
Author:
Miško Stanišić
Terraforming
The Destruction of the Jews Being the First Priority of the Nazi Ideology
Driven by their ideology based on pseudoscientific biological racism and an idea that the “Aryan race” is superior to the other “races”, Nazis defined their strategic aims, which they considered to be crucial for the future of German nation: It is necessary to obtain “Living space” (Lebensraum), that is to say, new territories for the Germans, while “racially inferior” people (Untermenschen) should be either completely destroyed or enslaved.
Nazis regarded several groups as “racially inferior” including the Slavs and the Roma, but in the core of Nazi ideology the principal and the most “dangerous” “enemy of the German people” were the Jews. The fact that it is Jews that are presented as the principal enemy of the Germans is the result of a long tradition of antisemitism, i.e. hatred against the Jews. The Nazis exploited antisemitism in their populist political ideology to arouse animosity of the majority population against one minority, namely Jews, blaming them for all world evils. Riding the wave of that hatred, the Nazis tried to create a feeling of national unity and identity, preparing the nation for an “inevitable and just” war for the “defence and survival” of the German people.
During the World War II, adhering to their first priority strategic aims, the German Nazis were carrying out two plans simultaneously: military conquest of the new territories and the destruction of the Jews, both these processes being adjusted to the local circumstances and conditions in different conquered countries and territories all the time.
The destruction of the Jews was being carried out by the German Nazis systematically and in a synchronized manner throughout the occupied Europe, local collaborators taking part actively in it to a greater or lesser extent. This process escalated from depriving the Jews of their civil rights, and appropriation of their assets and property, followed by deportations, ghettoizations, to the mass murders, culminating in “death factories” of extermination camps. Most of the European Jews lived in the Eastern Europe. Virtually two thirds of all European Jews used to live on the territories of Poland, the USSR (comprising Baltic States, Ukraine, Russia, Belorussia and Moldavia) and Romania. The attack of Germany on the USSR was a decisive moment in the destruction of the Jews, for in a short time period Germany managed to conquer a large part of this territory. In the months to follow some of the worst mass murders in the history of mankind were committed there: Lviv, Babi Yar, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Iași … More than two million Jews who were living on the territories of the USSR were shot dead and thrown into mass graves within the wave of crimes now also referred as “Holocaust by Bullets”. More than 40% of total Jewish Holocaust victims were killed in this manner. Next terrible chapter of carrying out the plan of the destruction of the European Jews was yet to take place in death camps, some of the most notorious being Chelmno, Belzec, Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka and Auschwitz. Most of the 3 million Polish Jews were killed in these camps, as well as the Jewish population from the countries of the West, Central and South-East Europe. Besides the death camps run by the German Nazis, there were some camps run by others, such one being Jasenovac in the Independent State of Croatia run by the Ustasha. In addition to the Jews, in many of these camps the Poles, Soviet POWs, the Roma and others were killed, too, and in the death camps in the Independent State of Croatia the majority of the victims were Serbs.
To what extent the destruction of the Jews was their first priority can be clearly seen from the fact that even when the Nazis were completely aware that they were going to lose the war, they actually accelerated the destruction of the Jews by intensifying deportations and train transports of the Jews from all parts of occupied Europe to the monstrous complexes of death camps to be exterminated immediately upon arrival.
Thus the suffering of the Jews in Serbia must be viewed in a context of the European Holocaust, as a part of a large scale plan of the destruction of the Jews in Europe. Killing of the Jews in Serbia was combined with the suppression of a strong resistance movement which was intensified particularly during the summer in 1941 culminating in the liberation of a part of the territory by the Partisan resistance and a creation of the Republic of Užice (Užička Republika) by the end of September 1941 being the first liberated territory in World War II in Europe. German occupiers were trying to suppress the uprising by radical measures: thousands of civilians were executed in reprisal shootings. The majority of the Jewish men from the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia (German: Gebiet des Militärbefehlshabers in Serbien) – Serbian territory occupied by Germany (see more about the division of the occupied Serbia later in this text) were executed in these reprisal shootings already in the autumn of 1941. The rest of the Jews, mostly women and children were killed in the gas van (“dušegupka”) in the Jewish camp Semlin at the former Fairgrounds – Sajmište.
Although the Holocaust in Serbia was planned and carried out by the German Nazis, it is important to point out that they were also helped by Serbian collaborators, particularly the Serbian quisling administration headed by Milan Aćimović, and later by Milan Nedić who took active part not only in oppressing Serbian citizens, arresting and killing members of the resistance movement and antifascist patriots, but also in looting and destroying the Jewish population on the territory of Serbia occupied by the Germans.
In order to promote antisemitic ideas and spread hatred against Jews, “The Grand Anti-Masonic Exhibition” was organized on 22nd of October 1941 in Belgrade by Lazar Prokić, chief of the Section of State propaganda in the Nedić’s Government, sponsored and financially supported by Germans. During the occupation Dimitrije Ljotić was a leader of Serbian Volunteer Corps whose members, also known as “Ljotićevci”, assisted Germans in detaining Jews and arresting supporters of National Liberation Fight, actively taking part in gathering of civilians and German reprisal executions of them.
Dragomir Dragi Jovanonović was the chief of Belgrade Police and the head of Belgrade City Administration who actively persecuted patriots and occupation opponents during the German occupation.
The Disastrous Consequences of the Holocaust
The ideology that justified and incited it, the way it was prepared and carried out, the scale and the very quantity of the crimes against the Jews in Europe, all of it make the Holocaust an unprecedented crime in the history of mankind. Consequently, the Jewish population in Europe was almost completely annihilated. Unfortunately, the same goes for Serbia, where almost all Jews perished in the Holocaust.
In many places of Europe the few surviving groups of Jews failed to revive the way of life of the pre-war Jewish communities. Many of the few surviving Jews moved to Israel after the war. In the subsequent decades the memory of the victims and the pre-war life of the Jews started fading into oblivion and the process continued incessantly and relentlessly. A famous writer Elie Wiesel once said: “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” As a matter of fact, it would mean that the Nazis succeeded in their aims to completely destroy Jews and erase all traces of their existence.
To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.
We Learn about Our Past – and Future
Taking all this in consideration, it is very important to research, teach and learn about and remember the Holocaust , not only because it is a civilizational, moral and human duty, but also because by learning about the life and history we share with Jews we also learn about ourselves and our own history which helps us to understand it better. A process of adopting modern values of tolerance, non-discrimination, and respect of human and civil rights as basic civilizational values has started after the World War II, when the world faced the scale and atrocities of the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators, the very unique one being the Holocaust.
Being aware of a strong antifascist tradition in Serbia, and especially of the fact that the Serbs themselves were victims of terror and genocide and a huge number of lives lost during their fight against the Nazism, too, to research, teach and learn about and remember the Holocaust should come as a natural constituent of the memory and the historical narrative of Serbia.
By learning about our past and understanding it through education about the Holocaust, we contribute to preserving the memory of not only Jewish but all other victims of the Nazi crimes, too, as well as to preserving and improving civilizational and democratic values of the society we live in. This way we learn how to do everything we can to prevent such crimes from happening ever again.
learning and remembering the Holocaust should be a natural and integral part of remembering one's own history
Abuse of remembrance
The past can be abused for the purpose of fueling nationalism, fear, and hatred.
A sincere, meaningful, and brave culture of remembrance reverently remembers the victims and treats them as individuals and human beings, not just numbers and stereotypes. An honest, meaningful, and courageous culture of remembrance focuses on life, not death. In such a culture of remembrance, instead of simplistic answers, difficult and complex questions are posed.
A sincere, meaningful, and brave culture of remembrance contributes to the development of critical thinking and pluralistic social dialogue about the challenges and issues we face today. Such a culture of remembrance treats crimes from the past as a warning that both individuals and society are responsible and obligated to actively nurture, strengthen, and defend the very social values and rights that were denied to the victims: respect for civil and human rights and the rule of law in a democratic legal state.
A sincere, meaningful, and brave culture of remembrance does not abuse the past and does not inflame nationalism, hatred, or fear.
Jewish Victims in Europe, Yugoslavia and Serbia
Europe
There were about 9,500,000 Jews living in Europe before the World War II. German Nazis and their collaborators premeditatedly and systematically destroyed about 6,000,000 of them.
Jews in Europe
Killed
Jews in Yugoslavia
Killed
Yugoslavia
Altogether there were 82,000 Jews living in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia before the World War II, out of which 34,777 were inhabited in Serbia. Jews represented a small community making about 0.6% of the total population of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Out of 82,000 Yugoslav Jews, 67,000 or 81.7% of them lost their lives during the war. If a number of the 4,000 Jewish refugees is added to that figure, it can be concluded that out of 86,000 Jews who were present in Yugoslavia during the wartime, 71,000 or 82% of them lost their lives in the Holocaust.
Serbia
Taking into consideration the whole territory of Serbia, including the territory under the German occupation and parts of Serbia annexed by Hungary, the Independent State of Croatia, Bulgaria and Italy, out of 34,777 Jews (including 1,200 Jewish refugees from the Central Europe), total of 28,224 or 81.16% of the Jewish population were killed during the war.
Jews in Serbia
Killed
Serbia under control of the German Military Administration
Altogether there were 16,600 Jews living in Serbia in the territory under control of the German Military Administration, including the Banat region governed by Volksdeutsche, as well as about 1,200 Jewish refugees from the Central Europe, mostly from Austria, Czechia and Poland, who happened to be in Yugoslavia when the war broke out. So out of 17,800 Jews who were present in Serbia under the German occupation about 14,800 or 83.1% of them lost their lives. And 6,320 of those Jews were killed in the Jewish Camp at Sajmište. Consequently, out of 6,400 Jews detained in the Jewish Camp at former fairgrounds, a total of 98.75% of them were killed.
Parts of Serbia Annexed by Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy and the Independent State of Croatia
Although other occupiers were also committing crimes against the Jews, looting their property and killing them, it was primarily the Germans who instigated, organized and committed the Holocaust in Serbia, including the territories under control of Hungary, Bulgaria and Italy.
– By the end of April 1944 the Hungarians arrested the Jews in the Bačka region and handed them over to the Germans who deported them to the death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
– In March 1943 the Bulgarians handed over the Jews from Macedonia and town of Pirot to the Germans who deported them to the death camp Treblinka.
– After capitulation of Italy the Germans deported the Jews from Kosovo and Metohija to the camp Bergen-Belsen.
– The only exception being the Independent State of Croatia: the Jews from the Srem region were killed in the concentration camp Jasenovac for the most part.
Jewish Resistance to the Occupation and Help to the Jews
Ways of Rescue
The Jews who managed to get out of the cities were hiding mostly in Serbian villages assuming the identity of Serbian refugees from other parts of Yugoslavia, those from the Independent State of Croatia for the most part. Other Jews, who managed to flee from the German occupation zone and reach the territories under the Italian or Hungarian occupation, were saved at least for a period of time.
Many helped Jews to hide, to find refuge, to escape, and to save their lives in various ways. Sometimes it required providing false identification papers, sometimes just offering some food or a shelter for a night would be enough, and sometimes people risked their own and the lives of their families hiding the Jews in their houses, barns, stables and other hiding places. Up to 2016, for helping Jews 129 honorary titles “Righteous among the Nations” have been awarded by the state of Israel to the Serbian citizens, who saved the lives of the Jews risking their own.
Jews in the Resistance Movement
A great number of the Jews joined and took active part in the Yugoslav Partisan movement. Altogether 4,556 Jews took part in Fight for National Liberation. For exceptional courage and merits in the fight against the occupying forces 10 Jews were proclaimed national heroes and 14 reached the rank of a general of the Yugoslav Army.
4,556 Jews took part in Fight for National Liberation, out of which 10 were proclaimed national heroes and 14 reached the rank of a general of the Yugoslav Army
How do we study history?
Historical Context
Shortly after the liberation of Belgrade, in November 1944, the Commission of Inquiry was formed to determine the crimes in the Sajmište camp, and the process of exhuming the corpses at the Jewish cemetery in Zemun and the Bežani cemetery began. After the end of the war, the National Commission for the determination of the crimes of the occupiers and their collaborators collected reports on victims who died during the war, as well as on material damage and looted property.
Over the years, testimonies of surviving Jews were also collected. Many survivors wrote memoirs in order to try to preserve the memories of the disappeared Jewish communities for future generations. Here and there, family photos, letters and other mementos testifying to the lives of the victims have been preserved. There are of course also testimonies and records of other witnesses who are not Jews, for example the testimonies of those who helped the Jews to hide or to escape. Also, material is available about Jews participating in the national liberation struggle.
The preserved documentation of the German occupation forces is stored in various military and historical archives in Serbia, Germany, Austria, and elsewhere. Most of them are known today, and accessible to research historians. Also, material from the trial of Nazi criminals has been preserved. Sometimes there are also photographs, and less often films, which were most often taken by the Nazis themselves, usually for propaganda purposes. But when it comes to the Sajmište camp, there is not much photographic material left.
Some of the most important world centers dealing with the study, education and preservation of the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, and in which there is also data on the victims from Serbia, are Yad Vashem in Israel, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, the archive of the International Service for Searching for the Missing from Bad Arolsen in Germany, and others. In Serbia, there is also a Museum of Genocide Victims, where, among other things, data is collected and sorted on all the victims who died in the Second World War in Yugoslavia.
Traces of the life and persecution of Jews in Serbia can also be found in preserved newspapers and other pre-war publications that are available in collections, or digitally on the Internet, in the National Library of Serbia and in the “Svetozar Marković” University Library in Belgrade.
Various documentary materials about the life of Jews in Belgrade can be found in various funds of the Historical Archive of Belgrade, and in the Jewish Historical Museum in Belgrade. By researching historical data on children’s enrollment in schools, student certificates, tax statements, data on bank accounts, cadastral statements on houses, apartments and shops, data on residential addresses, on membership in craft and professional associations, data on membership in sports and cultural associations , health records, and many other data, we can create a better picture of life in Belgrade before the war, in which together with Serbs and other peoples they lived and Jews, and played a very important role in cultural, economic and political life.
Of course, speaking about the Jews in Serbia, and in general historical documentation about the Second World War, a variety of archival material is available in historical and other archives throughout Serbia.
All this makes up documentation that serves us as historical material for researching the history of the camp at Sajmište, and the fate of its prisoners.
Historians
Numerous historians have been researching the Holocaust for decades, and published their findings and conclusions in scientific literature. As in any other science, new historical research relies on the findings and conclusions of predecessors. In their works, historians write down precisely from which sources they obtained certain data, and when they quote other historians, they state exactly from which work and exactly from which page the quote was taken. Such references help students and other researchers to find historical sources and literature for further work. For example, the Institute of Contemporary History in Belgrade is one of the institutes where historians study our past and publish their findings and conclusions in scientific literature.
Archivists
Archivists are tasked with sorting and preserving historical documentation. Modern archives digitize their materials, but the originals must still be preserved. In large historical archives, such as the Historical Archive of Belgrade, documentation is stored in special depots. The depot of the Historical Archive of Belgrade occupies an area of 2,400 m2, where special metal racks are placed that can hold 20,000 meters of material. The depot is equipped with an electronic lock, metal doors, fire sensors and instruments that measure temperature and air humidity, as well as air conditioners. All this in order to create conditions in which historical materials – our memories and knowledge about the past – will be preserved and available to researchers. Some of the important archives in Serbia are the Archives of Yugoslavia, the Archives of Serbia, the Military Archives, the Archives of Vojvodina, the Historical Archives of the City of Novi Sad and others.
Remembrance
Memorial Days
There are several official Memorial Days which are commemorated in the Republic of Serbia:
January 23: Day of remembrance for the victims of the Novi Sad raid
(Memorial day of the mass crime committed by Hungarian forces in South Bačka in 1941.)
January 27: International Holocaust Remembrance Day
(Memorial of the day when the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz camp in 1945.)
April 22: National Remembrance Day for the victims of the Holocaust, Genocide and other victims of Fascism during the Second World War
(Memorial Day for the victims of Jasenovac concentration camp and other victims killed in the Independent State of Croatia)
May 10: Memorial Day of the Holocaust Victims in Belgrade;
(Memorial day of May 10, 1942, when the last group of Jews imprisoned in the camp at Sajmište was killed in a gas truck of Dušegupki, which made the destruction of Jews in the territory of Serbia under German occupation complete)
October 21: National Remembrance Day of the Serbian victims of the Second World War
(Memorial Day for the victims of Kragujevac massacre and other mass executions during the October 1941)
November 9: International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism
(Memorial day of remembering the “Crystal Night” – the day of the pogrom against the Jews in Germany in 1938)
December 16: National Remembrance Day of the Roma Genocide in World War II
(On the occasion of Heinrich Himmler’s order from 1942 on the systematic sending of Roma to concentration camps for liquidation)
Teaching and learning about the Holocaust
Some of the Holocaust teaching materials available in Serbia are:
- Teaching Material to Combat Antisemitism
(available for download on www.terraforming.org) - Recommendations
- Yad Vashem’s ready2print exhibition ”How Was It Humanly Possible?”
(available for download on www.terraforming.org) - Exibition ”Some Words About the Holocaust in Serbia”
(available for download on www.terraforming.org) - Exhibition and workshop ČReading and Writing With Anne Frank
(reservations via www.terraforming.org) - Publications of the Center for Applied History
- Portraits and memories of the Jewish Community of Serbia before the Holocaust
- Učionica istorije (The History Classroom)
See the full list of recommended links
