The Fourth International Conference on Jasenovac took place in Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina, May 29-31, 2007. Paul Mojzes and Jim Payton both attended the conference, and each presented a paper. It was the first time either had attended one of the conferences on Jasenovac.

The Fourth International Conference on Jasenovac

During World War II Jasenovac was a complex of about nine concentration camps on the territory of the current states of Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, but at that time part of the Nazi puppet Independent State of Croatia. It was the largest extermination and “labor” camp on the territory of the former Yugoslavia and, aside from the camps at Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek and others on the territory of Poland, it was the largest camp in Nazi-occupied Europe. In distinction from the other camps that were operated by the Nazi Germans, this camp was organized and almost exclusively run by Croatian “Ustashe,” collaborators of the Nazis. The inmates of the camp were Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies (Romas), as well as communists and other enemies of that state from various nationalities.

One of the major issues in recent years has been the number of victims. According to (predominantly) Serb claims, about a million people perished in the camps of Jasenovac, while (again predominantly) Croat nationalist deniers reduce the number to as low as 20,000. The four international conferences (the first in New York [October 1997], the second in Banja Luka [2000], the third in Jerusalem [December 2002], and the fourth again in Banja Luka), attract predominantly Serb participants with some Jewish and rather few others. Out of the 128 participants in this conference there were only six non-Serbs, though some Serb participants live outside Republika Srpska and Serbia.

Proceedings of the 4th Conference were published in separate English and Serbian hard-bound books that were available at the conference. Paul’s paper was entitled, “Examination of Genocide: Truth and Justice Instead of Political and Economic Gain.” In it he argued against playing politics and exaggerating or understating the numbers of victims, both of which tend to promote further conflicts. Jim’s paper was entitled, “May Their Memory Be Eternal!” He urged the necessity of remembering the victims of Jasenovac while not seeking retribution. The papers seemed to be accurately and expertly translated into Serbian. Although it seemed that most other participants were not reluctant to exaggerate the numbers, Paul’s paper addressed that issue and was well received. Subsequently, he was interviewed at some length by the Banja Luka TV station.

A Serb survivor of the Jasenovac camp

In attendance were several Serb survivors of the Jasenovac or other camps. They were only children at the time and are now elderly. Their presentations were deeply touching, though a number of them and some of the other participants were not reluctant to expand the guilt for the camps from the Ustashe to Croats and the Catholic Church in general. It is clear that the recent wars in Bosnia and Croatia have left a great deal of bitterness and re-awakened nationalist hatred. Perhaps it is not surprising that there was very little or no critical self-examination of Serbian war crimes and genocidal activities of the 1990s during the discussion.

After the conference we joined most of the other participants in traveling to the Jasenovac memorial museum on the Croatian side and to Donja Gradina (the special execution site) in Republica Srpska. Many of the participants seemed to think that the Croatian government has sanitized the site at Jasenovac and diminished the enormity of the crimes. Viewing the museum for the first time, though, both Paul and Jim saw clearly that the exhibit explicitly acknowledged that it was a death camp and listed about 69,000 known names of victims. (Many victims were killed without their names being entered into documents—the camp was more brutal and less well organized than German camps as there were no gas chambers or other “industrial” killings.) There are no remaining structures such as barracks, of the camp. Both Paul and Jim found the experience overwhelming and declined the opportunity to be interviewed by a journalist immediately after exiting the museum: we found there was too much to process to speak appropriately with any kind of assessment. The former Yugoslav government erected a huge concrete lily as a monument to those who died at Jasenovac.

Papers Presented:

PAUL MOJZES, “EXAMINATION OF GENOCIDE: TRUTH AND JUSTICE INSTEAD OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC GAIN”

JAMES R. PAYTON, JR., “MAY THEIR MEMORY BE ETERNAL!”

To view the online gallery of photos relating to this article, click here.