The Lessons of Jasenovac - What Have We Learned?

Jasenovac is not only a historical event - it is a lesson. What have we learned? Have we learned enough?

Lesson 1: Genocide begins with rhetoric

Jasenovac did not begin with the camps. It began with words. The 1930s - the rhetoric of the Ustaše:

• "Serbs are not people, but cattle"
• "Croatia must be cleansed of the Orthodox element"
• "Kill one third, expel one third, convert one third" (Mile Budak, minister of the NDH)

1. The rhetoric of hatred (the 1930s) → "Serbs are the enemy"
2. The legitimisation of violence (1941) → "We must defend ourselves"
3. Dehumanisation (1941-1945) → "They are not people, but vermin"
4. Systematic murder (the camps) → "Cleansing"

When you hear politicians saying: "They are not like us", "They are a threat", "We must cleanse" - that is an ALARM. Genocide begins with words, not tanks.

Lesson 2: "Ordinary people" can become killers

Most of the Ustaše at Jasenovac were not "evil geniuses" - they were ordinary people. Who were the Ustaše?:

• Peasants
• Teachers
• Priests (Friar Miroslav Filipović)
• Ordinary workers

• Propaganda - constant rhetoric of hatred
• Group pressure - "If you do not take part, you are a traitor"
• Dehumanisation of the victims - "That is not a person, that is an enemy"
• Normalisation of violence - first it was a shock, then a habit
• Impunity - No one was punished, so they continued

The Stanford Prison Experiment (1971) and the Milgram Experiment (1961) showed: Ordinary people can do terrible things if they are in the "right" situation.

Neither you nor I are immune to becoming a killer if we allow propaganda, group pressure, and dehumanisation to do their work. That is why we must be aware.

Lesson 3: Silence is complicity

Many knew. Few spoke. Who knew about Jasenovac?:

• The Vatican - received reports, never officially condemned it
• The Germans - General Glaise von Horstenau wrote reports
• The Italians - soldiers saw Pag, Jadovno
• The local population - lived nearby, knew about the "camp"
• The international community - news leaked out, but the Second World War was under way

• Fear - "If I speak, I too may end up in a camp"
• Indifference - "That is not my problem"
• Politics - "The NDH is an ally against communism"
• Antisemitism/anti-Serb sentiment - "Perhaps they even deserve it"

• Diana Budisavljević - saved 10,000 children
• Some Italian soldiers - wrote reports
• Croatian anti-fascists - joined the Partisans

When you see injustice - speak. Silence is not neutrality. Silence is a choice - and that choice is on the side of the killer, not the victim.

Lesson 4: Religion can be abused

Jasenovac shows that religion can be a weapon of genocide. The role of the Catholic Church:

• Friar Miroslav Filipović - a priest who was the commander of Jasenovac
• Forced conversion - Serbs compelled to convert to Catholicism
• Vatican support for the NDH - Pope Pius XII never condemned the NDH
• The Ratlines - the Vatican helped the Ustaše to escape

This does NOT mean that the Catholic faith is bad. It means that ANY religion can be abused for political ends. The same happened with the Orthodox Church during other wars, with Islam, and so on.

Do not allow your faith to become a weapon against others. True faith teaches love, not hatred. When someone uses religion to justify murder - that is not faith, that is politics.

Lesson 5: Systematic genocide requires bureaucracy

Jasenovac was not chaotic violence - it was an organised system. The bureaucracy of death:

• Lists - who would be arrested
• Transport - trucks, trains to the camps
• Registration - the number of prisoners, the date of arrival
• Division of labour - who kills, who guards, who digs the graves
• Destruction of evidence - burning bodies, filling in graves

Auschwitz and Jasenovac - the same principle: Genocide becomes "work". Killing becomes a "daily routine".

Genocide is not spontaneous - it is planned. That is why attention should be paid to:

• The creation of lists of "enemies"
• The organisation of "collection centres"
• Dehumanising bureaucratic terminology

Lesson 6: Justice may be delayed, but it matters

Most of the Ustaše never answered for their crimes. But some did. Friar Miroslav Filipović - hanged in 1946. Dinko Šakić - convicted in 1999, 54 years later. Why does justice matter?:

• For the victims - satisfaction, recognition
• For society - sending a message that crime does not go unpunished
• For the future - deterring new criminals

Do not give up on justice, even after decades. Every war criminal must answer for their acts.

Lesson 7: Denial is as dangerous as the crime

The denial of Jasenovac prepares a new Jasenovac. How denial works:

1. "It did not happen" (extreme)
2. "It was not so bad" (minimisation)
3. "The other side did the same" (relativisation)
4. "They were the enemy" (justification)

• It erases the moral lesson
• It opens the way for new crimes
• It wounds the victims and their families

Actively combat denial - through education, documentation, testimonies.

Lesson 8: Children are the future - educate them

At Jasenovac, 20,000 children were killed. That is why we must teach our children so that it does not happen again. What children should know:

• What Jasenovac was - not hiding the truth
• How hatred can escalate
• The importance of critical thinking
• Distinguishing propaganda from the truth

Teach children empathy. Teach them that all people are equal. That is the best prevention.

Conclusion - "Never Again"?

After the Holocaust, the world said: "Never Again". But then there came:

• Cambodia (1975-1979) - 2 million dead
• Rwanda (1994) - 800,000 dead in 100 days
• Bosnia - Srebrenica (1995) - 8,000 dead
• Darfur (the 2000s)

Jasenovac teaches us:

• Genocide begins with rhetoric - so recognise hatred
• Ordinary people can become killers - so be aware
• Silence is complicity - so speak
• Religion can be a weapon - so do not abuse it
• Systems enable crime - so scrutinise the bureaucracy
• Justice matters - so do not give up
• Denial is dangerous - so document
• Children are the future - so educate

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

"Jasenovac is not only a Serbian story. It is a human story - a story of what happens when we allow hatred to prevail. And it is a story that every generation MUST hear."