Srem 1942

Abstract

Vrata Srema širom su se otvorila pred nastupajućim nemačkim trupama. U pohodu na Beograd, nemačka vojska je angažovala sremsko stanovništvo nemačkog porekla, uglavnom pripadnike Kulturbunda, za razoružavanje pripadnika Vojske Kraljevine Jugoslavije, dok je ostalo nemačko stanovništvo dočekalo „oslobođenje“ organizujući javne manifestacije u okviru kojih su pozdravljali nemačku vojsku visoko uzdignutim rukama, u svečanim nemačkim narodnim nošnjama, mašući zastavama sa kukastim krstovima. Istovremeno, pripadnici ustaškog pokreta su, uz podršku pristalica Hrvatske seljačke stranke i Vlatka Mačeka, preuzimali vlast na teritorijama preko kojih su nemačke trupe prošle u svom pohodu na Beograd. Osnivanjem Velike župe Vuka sa sedištem u Vukovaru, 26. juna 1941. godine, vlasti Nezavisne Države Hrvatske su i formalno uspostavile vlast na teritoriji okupiranog Srema. Od ukupno deset sremskih srezova, Nemcima su pripala četiri sreska načelnika, od sedmorice gradonačelnika - trojica su bili Nemci, od sto pedeset šestoro opštinskih načelnika - sedamdeset petoro bilo je iz redova nemačkog naroda. Nemački narod u Sremu je time gotovo ravnopravno učestvovao i delio vlast sa Hrvatima u administraciji Nezavisne Države Hrvatske, a samim tim i odgovornost za brojne zločine počinjene nad srpskim, jevrejskim, romskim i ostalim narodima u Sremu. Leto 1942. godine sa pravom se u Sremu smatra krvavim. Ustaška vlast je kroz delovanje Pokretnog prekog suda usmerenog prvenstvenoka Srbima i, sporednim akcijama, ka Romima i Jevrejima, krenula u najozbiljnije i najkrvavije čišćenje ove teritorije od „nepoćudnih“ pojedinaca i porodica.

The gates of Srem opened wide before the advancing German troops. In the campaign against Belgrade, the German army hired the population of Srem of German origin, mainly members of the Kulturbund, to disarm members of the Army of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, while the rest of the German population welcomed “liberation” by organizing public events in which they greeted the German army with their hands raised high, in solemn in German folk costumes, waving flags with swastikas. At the same time, members of the Ustasha movement, with the support of supporters of the Croatian Peasant Party and Vlatko Maček, took over the territories through which German troops passed in their march to Belgrade. With the establishment of the Great County of Vuka, based in Vukovar, on the 26th of June 1941, the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia formally established authority on the territory of occupied Srem. Out of a total of ten Srem counties, four county chiefs went to the Germans, out of seven mayors - three were Germans, and out of one hundred and fifty-six municipal chiefs - seventy-five were from the ranks of the German people. The German people in Srem thus participated almost equally and shared power with the Croats in the administration of the Independent State of Croatia, and therefore took responsibility for numerous crimes committed against the Serbian, Jewish, Roma and other peoples in Srem. The summer of 1942 is rightfully considered bloody in Srem. The Ustasha’s government, through the action of the Mobile High Court, directed primarily towards Serbs and, with secondary actions, towards the Roma and the Jews, embarked on the most serious and bloody cleansing of this territory from “reluctant” individuals and families.