The Yugoslav Jews in World War Two

Abstract

The history of Yugoslav Jews in World War Two is marked by the genocide perpetrated by the occupational forces of Nazi Germany and the puppet Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska), and also by Jewish support or direct participation in the National Liberation movement and victory over fascism. In comparison to the other Yugoslav nations, the Jews have - by percentage - suffered the greatest losses. From over 81.000 Yugoslav Jews (0.5% of the Yugoslav population in 1941) the war had survived about 15.000, while from 3.000 Jewish refugees in Yugoslavia only a few had saved their lives. The genocide was perpetrated systematically, according to plan, while the emphasis on the conviction of the Jewish "collective guilt" was disheartening. Also, the possibility of annihilation of a nation as a whole was by itself inconceivable. The greatest number of Jews was living in towns and it was relatively easy to register and control them. After the internment and execution of the Jewish men, their families were also destroyed. It was not only the annihilation of the Jewish lives but also of their temples, cultural monuments and cemeteries, while their assets, property and belongings were pilfered and appropriated. The tides of genocide in the parts of divided Yugoslavia all led to one goal, but the methods of its execution in various occupied areas (German, Hungarian, Bulgarian) and in the Independent State of Croatia were different.