Auschwitz Was Evil But So Was Jasenovac, Yet Few Dare To Talk About It

Europe is reflecting on the evils of its genocidal past as the world marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a somber event that's forever etched into the West's collective memory. The Allies swore that they'd never let anyone forget about the crimes against humanity that were committed in that Nazi death camp, which is why they continue to mark its liberation every year with high-profile visits, keynote speeches, and heavy media coverage. Everyone in the world is therefore aware of the Nazis' racist policies and the campaign of killing that accompanied them, yet Hitler's forces weren't the only ones in World War II who did such a thing. Few outside of the Balkans have ever heard of Jasenovac, the Croatian-operated death camp where around one million people -- at least 800,000 of them Serbs -- were brutally murdered by the Ustashe regime of the Nazi-allied so-called "Independent State of Croatia" (known by its abbreviation as the NDH), and even fewer people dare to talk about it.

All lives are equal and there shouldn't be any hierarchy of victimhood, but the suffering of the Serbs has regrettably been forgotten by almost all but the Serbs themselves (and even some among them don't seem to care all that much anymore). The Nazis' genocidal campaign of conquest across Europe affected the entire continent whereas the Croats' equally evil genocidal campaign was "only" waged in part of the Balkans, so there's less interest in what they did. That's a shame too because everyone's understanding of World War II would be enriched by learning about what happened there at that time. The Croats declared "independence" right after the Nazi-led fascist invasion of Yugoslavia, literally stabbing their South Slavic brethren in the back out of solidarity with their German allies. The NDH was so rabidly racist that it established Jasenovac in order to contribute to Hitler's so-called "Final Solution", not just against Jews but also against the Slavs, a fact that's often omitted from history nowadays as well.

Although the Croats are Slavs themselves, the Ustashe regime claimed that they're actually somehow connected to the self-professed "master race", unlike their fellow Serbs who they insisted were inferior and thus "deserving" only of the most painful death possible.  (more...)

Auschwitz Was Evil But So Was Jasenovac, Yet Few Dare To Talk About It