(english / castillano / italiano)

Jasenovac and the Holocaust in Yugoslavia

0. NEW BOOKS:
- Jasenovac and the Holocaust in Yugoslavia: Analyses and Testimonies
- Historiography In The Service of Politics / Istorografia U Sluzbi
Politike

1. LINKS

2. JRI Calls on the European Union to Demand Compensation for
Croatia's Holocaust Victims as a Condition for EU Membership (25
February 2005)

3. BREVI / IN SHORT:
- CROAZIA:CAMPO CONCENTRAMENTO CENTRO EUROPEO STUDIO OLOCAUSTO
(21/12/05)
- Corte suprema Usa dice sì a processo a Vaticano (gennaio 2006)
- Vatican Bank Lawsuit Progressing (23/2/06)


=== 0 ===

New Book on Jasenovac Available Now!

Jasenovac and the Holocaust in Yugoslavia: Analyses and Testimonies

Edited by Barry M. Lituchy, Published by JRI, 2006, 408 pp.

As scholarship and awareness of the Holocaust grew rapidly in the
1990's, information on Jasenovac and the genocides perpetrated
against Serbs, Jews and Romas in Yugoslavia during World War II was
absent from this discussion. This neglect posed some troubling
questions. How could the subject of Jasenovac be absent from public
and scholarly attention at the very moment when discussions of
genocide, war crimes and human rights in the Balkans were on the
front pages of every newspaper, and in the pronouncements of every
Holocaust and human rights institution and governement in the world?
How could any serious public discussion of genocide in the former
Yugoslavia begin without the necessary historical context?

In 1997 Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York hosted a
conference on Jasenovac and the Holocaust in Yugoslavia. The results
of that conference are presented here for the first time in an
accurate and authorized edition, prepared in cooperation with the
authors.

This book contains 30 chapters including a 40 page introduction.
There are 15 chapters of analyses by historians including Michael
Bernebaum, Christopher Simpson, Antun Miletic, Eli Rosenbaum, Charles
R. Allen Jr. and others, along with 15 chapters of unique Holocaust
testimonies by Jasenovac and other concentration camp survivors.
There are 97 photographs, 30 pages of appendices with never before
translated documents, maps, a twelve page double columned index with
detailed entries, 27 biographical entries on contributors, and
discussion of secondary source literature. The entire book is
annotated and expertly prepared. This book provides one of the most
extensive and accurate presentations of this subject in the English
language ever produced.

To order, send a check or money order for $32 paperback or $37
hardcover (includes shipping and handling) payable to:

Jasenovac Research Institue
PO Box 10-0674
Brooklyn, NY 11210
USA

You may also order on-line at www.jasenovac.org by clicking the
"financial contributions" button and paying through a paypal account.

---

Historiography In The Service of Politics

(Istorografia U Sluzbi Politike)

By Vasilije Krestic

Available for $25 (U.S.) in a beautiful hardcover edition.
The book contains both the original Serbian text and
the English translation; 127 pages, published in
Belgrade in 2004 (includes shipping costs).

JRI Review:

In this closely analyzed and penetrating study, Vasilije Krestic, one
of Serbia's leading historians, examines the corruption of certain
nationalist Croatian academics in North America and their promotion
of politicized graduate students to PhD's. Trained in the school of
Croatian nationalism, these academics aim to produce an ever larger
crop of newly minted PhD's in their own image.

The result is an emerging American academia dedicated to promoting
the political agenda of Croatian ultra-nationalism and Western neo-
colonialism in the Balkans. Dr. Krestic's book examines the infamous
school of Croatian nationalism under the tutelage of Ivo Banac at
Yale University and one of its most recent graduates William Brooks
Tomljanovich.

Tomljanovich's PhD dissertation on the 19th century Croatian Bishop
Josip Strossmayer now published in book form provides the case study
for Krestic's analysis. In his study Krestic notes:

"We decided to devote attention to V. Tomljanovich's
book not only because of the importance of its topic
but also in order to illustrate with his example the
course Croatian historiography is following, its
methods of work and aims, to what extent it is
science and to what extent in the service of daily
politics."

Noting in his conclusion that Dr. Tomljanovic has now found
employment as a "Balkans expert" at the U.N.'s Hague Tribunal,
Krestic concludes that

"... Tomljanovic is part of the Hague expert group
whose members could not care less for science and
moral standards. Their primary task is demonization
of the Serbs and distortion of history for political
reasons... ."

Dr. Krestic's analysis carefully exposes the numerous errors and
shortcomings in Tomljanovic's study and the ways in which the final
product manipulates the past for political purposes. This book is a
must read for anyone concerned with the history of the Balkans and
the current state of Balkans studies.

- Jasenovac Research Institute

The Jasenovac Research Institute is
pleased to make this book available in
North America in cooperation with
Gambit Publishers in Belgrade.

To order: mail your check or money
order for $25 US, payable to:

Jasenovac Research Institute
PO Box 10-0674
Brooklyn, NY 11210
USA

(30% discount available to JRI Associates)

e-mail your inquiries to: info @...


=== 1 === LINKS ===

La memoria di Jasenovac
(B92, 17 aprile 2005 / Osservatorio sui Balcani)

19.04.2005 - Sessanta anni fa venivano liberati i detenuti di
Jasenovac, l'orribile campo di concentramento creato dall'allora
Stato indipendente croato di Ante Pavelic, alleato nazi-fascista. Le
celebrazioni commemorative in una breve cronaca dell'emittente B92...

http://www.osservatoriobalcani.org/article/articleview/4140/1/51/

Croazia, il doloroso confronto con l’Olocausto

27.01.2006 Da Osijek, scrive Drago Hedl - 27 gennaio, giorno della
memoria. Le istituzioni croate si interrogano su come tramandare il
ricordo di quanto avvenuto durante il regime di Pavelic. Presto un
nuovo museo presso l'area memoriale di Jasenovac, ma alle
manifestazioni pro Gotovina c’erano anche giovani con i berretti
ustascia. Dal nostro corrispondente

http://www.osservatoriobalcani.org/article/articleview/5196/1/44/


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VIDEO: Entrevista con Dinko Sakic, jefe del campo de concentración de
Jasenovac-Croacia (en español)

Descripción: Entrevista con el vampiro, en un VIDEO de la cadena
argentina, habla Dinko Sakic, el jefe del campo de concentración de
Jasenovac-Croacia (2,8 Mb)
Versión: Tamaño del archivo: 0 bytes
Agregado el: 11-Nov-2005 Descargas: 39

http://www.semanarioserbio.com/modules.php?
name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=9


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JASENOVAC RESEARCH INSTITUTE
http://www.jasenovac.org

Jasenovac - The Croat Extermination Camp (by Milan Bulajic)
http://www.freenations.freeuk.com/news-2004-09-23.html

Jasenovac, Holocaust era in Croatia 1941-1945.
A cura dello United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/jasenovac/

Jasenovac: Industry of Death
http://www.jasenovac.info/cd/biblioteka/vecni_pomen/
jasenovac_en.html#childgenocide

THE USTASHA GENOCIDE
By Marko Attila Hoare - The South Slav Journal, Volume 25 No. 1 – 2
(95 – 96) Spring - Summer 2004
http://www.southslavjournal.com/mah.html

Exclusively on Jasenovac.org: A new translation of chapters from Jasa
Romano's "The Jews of Yugoslavia 1941-1945 - Victims of Genocide and
Participants in the War of National Liberation," on the Holocaust in
Kosovo and Albanian collaboration with the Nazi Final Solution -
translated by JRI Director Milo Yelesiyevich.
http://jasenovac.org/libraries/viewdocument.asp?DocumentID=147

Modern Nationalism and the Holocaust: The Cases of Germany and Croatia
By Carl K. Savich. Introduction: Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuehrer
http://www.serbianna.com/columns/savich/055.shtml


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Three NY Times articles about the rebirth of Croatian fascism

A. Comment -Telling some Truth, 7 Years Late

1. Croatia Forced Thousands From Homes, Rights Group Says
by David Binder, NY Times
December 8, 1993

2. Fascists Reborn as Croatia's Founding Fathers
By Chris Hedges, NY Times
April 12, 1997

3. On My Mind; Back From the Grave
by A. M. Rosenthal, NY Times April 15, 1997

http://emperors-clothes.com/archive/dynamited.htm



--- LINKS 2005 : 60 YEARS AFTER LIBERATION ---

Sixty Years after Liberation (by Norman Markowitz)
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/1005/1/91/?
PrintableVersion=enabled
http://news.serbianunity.net/bydate/2005/April_26/29.html

FIRST MONUMENT TO VICTIMS OF JASENOVAC IS UNVEILED IN NEW YORK CITY'S
HOLOCAUST PARK
NY Mayor Bloomberg: April 17th Will Be Jasenovac Memorial Day
http://balkanalysis.blogspot.com/2005/04/ny-mayor-bloomberg-
april-17th-will-be.html
http://www.vaticanbankclaims.com/jri418.htm

Information on the Jasenovac Research Institute (by Stella Jatras)
http://news.serbianunity.net/bydate/2005/January_10/6.html?w=p

AP via Ha'aretz: Wiesenthal Center renews pressure on Croatia
http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/jul05/hed7082.shtml

Wiesenthal Center Executive Director visits Pozega over Asner case
http://www.hina.hr/nws-bin/genews.cgi?TOP=hot&NID=ehot/politika/
H7043527.4yc

Croatia: Sixtieth Anniversary Of Liberation Of Balkans Auschwitz
Balkan 'Auschwitz' haunts Croatia (April 25, 2005)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4479837.stm

Pictures Tell the Tale: Vatican and Nazism in Germany and Croatia
(and more)
http://emperors-clothes.com/vatican/cpix.htm


=== 2 ===

JRI Calls on the European Union to Demand
Compensation for Croatia's Holocaust Victims
as a Condition for EU Membership

25 February 2005

President of the European Union
Rue Wiertz
B-1047, Brussels
Belgium

Reference: Croatia’s application for membership to the
European Union and article 17 of the E.U. Charter of
Fundamental Rights

25 February 2005

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to you on behalf of a group of Survivors of
the Holocaust in Croatia with whom our organization is
working to obtain financial compensation for their stolen
properties in Croatia.

The names I am furnishing below represent just a small
number of individuals who were born in Croatia before
World War II and whose families were persecuted, murdered
and had properties confiscated by the Croatian government
for no other reason but that they were Jewish. The
confiscation of their property by the Croatian government
of 1941-1945 was part of a larger planned crime of
genocide perpetrated against all Jews, Serbs and Romas
under their rule.

The names of the first group of individuals on whose
behalf we are writing are:

Eva Deutsch Costabel, ( - address given - )
Michael Danon, ( - address given - )
Leonard Danon, ( - address given - )
Otto Friedmann, ( - address given - )
George Bozo Radan, ( - address given - )
Ricki Danon Soltan, ( - address given - )

All of these individuals are naturalized American citizens
and Holocaust Survivors. In some cases, these individuals
hold dual Croatian and American citizenship. In other
cases their birthright to Croatian citizenship has been
denied by the current government of Croatia. All of the
individuals named have been denied compensation for their
property. The present government of Croatia is
deliberately attempting to dispossess and deprive these
and other victims of World War II Croatian crimes of
genocide, and evade responsibility
for such crimes prior to joining the European Union. In
the process they are engaging in the most extreme forms
of Holocaust denial.

The Croatian government has adamantly refused either to
return the properties of the above named individuals or to
compensate them in any way. Legislation passed by the
Croatian government makes it virtually impossible for
anyone to qualify for compensation. Talks with
representatives of the United States on a bilateral
agreement to compensate American citizens (but not their
heirs) for their loss of property have been taking place
for years without result. This agreement would, in any
case, contradict the individual’s right to bequeath
property, as guaranteed by the constitution of the
European Union.

Article 17, of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights
states that:

“The right to property is a traditional fundamental right
in democratic and liberal societies. It is contained in
all national constitutions and has been established by the
jurisprudence of the Court of Justice.”

“Everyone has the right to own, use, dispose of and
bequeath his or her lawfully acquired Possessions. No one
may deprived of his or her possessions, except in the
public interest and in the cases and under then conditions
provided for by law, subject to fair compensations being
paid in good time for their loss. ”

Croatia’s refusal to come to terms with its past crimes is
in direct contravention of the laws and practices of the
European Union. To allow Croatia entry in to the European
Union without forcing it to resolve its longstanding
disputes with its own Holocaust victims would constitute
both an in insult and an injury to these victims as well
as a travesty of immense proportions.

To allow Croatia’s entry under such conditions would
inevitably harm and undermine the reputation and stature
of the E.U., for these are claims that will never go away
or be forgotten. They must be settled legally and it is
yours and the European Union’s responsibility to recognize
this beforehand. I feel certain you will agree.

I urge you to make the return of properties to the
rightful owners without conditions a mandatory requirement
for Croatia’s admission to the European Union. In doing
so, Croatia will not only fulfill the requirements of the
European Union constitution but it will also join the rest
of the European community in closing this painful chapter
of its history.

Sincerely,

(signed)

Barry Lituchy, National Coordinator
Jasenovac Research Institute


cc.: U.S. Ambassador Edward B. O’Donnell, Jr.
cc.: D. Sprajic, Secretary General, Jewish
Communities in Croatia
cc.: U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York
cc.: U.S. Senator Hilary Clinton of New York
cc.: U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner of New York
cc.: Claims Conference


=== 3 ===

CROAZIA:CAMPO CONCENTRAMENTO CENTRO EUROPEO STUDIO OLOCAUSTO

(ANSA) - ZAGABRIA, 21 DIC - Il memoriale di Jasenovac, dove nella
Seconda guerra mondiale ci fu il maggiore campo di concentramento in
Croazia voluto dal regime filonazista degli ustascia, diventera' il
primo centro di una rete europea per l'insegnamento sull'Olocausto.
Lo riferisce l'agenzia di stampa 'Hina'. L'iniziativa del progetto,
ha spiegato la direttrice del centro di Jasenovac, Natasa Jovicic, e'
partita dall'istituto Yad Vashem di Gerusalemme che il 27 gennaio
prossimo, in occasione della Giornata internazionale della memoria
della Shoah, inviera' in Croazia una delegazione per concretizzare il
programma di cooperazione tra le due istituzioni. Accanto alla
creazione di una rete europea di memoriali, di cui Jasenovac dovrebbe
essere punto di partenza, la cooperazione prevede anche lo scambio di
esperti e la fondazione di un centro di educazione e di ricerca
sull'Olocausto. ''Con questo progetto Jasenovac diventera' un centro
di prestigio internazionale nel campo dell'insegnamento
sull'Olocausto'', ha spiegato Jovicic. A Jasenovac, secondo recenti
stime di storici, tra il 1941 e il 1945 morirono circa 70.000
persone, tra serbi, ebrei, Rom e croati antifascisti. (ANSA). COR
21/12/2005 18:33

---

Olocausto: Corte suprema Usa dice sì a processo a Vaticano

Washington - La Corte Suprema americana ha dato oggi il suo via
libera al
processo che un gruppo di sopravvissuti dell'Olocausto ha intentato alla
banca vaticana, lo Ior (Istituto opere di religione), e all'ordine
francescano, accusandoli di essersi appropriati, alla fine della
guerra, di
beni di vittime del brutale regime Ustascia, al potere in Croazia dal
1941
al 1945.

Quei beni, secondo l'accusa, sarebbero stati trasferiti illegalmente dai
francescani croati nelle casse della banca vaticana e sarebbero
serviti a
finanziare la fuga di gerarchi ustascia e altri criminali nazisti
transitati proprio attraverso la città pontificia verso destinazioni
sicure
in Sudamerica e altrove.

Il processo era stato bloccato nel 2003 su ricorso di un giudice
federale,
il quale aveva sostenuto che si trattava di questioni da affrontare a
livello di governo statunitense e non di tribunale. La Corte Suprema ha
respinto oggi il ricorso e ha deciso che il processo, avviato nel
1999 da
un gruppo di ebrei davanti ad una Corte di San Francisco, deve andare
avanti.

fonte: Sda-Ats / Ecumenici, gennaio 2006

---

Interessanti sviluppi nel processo di San Francisco contro la Banca
Vaticana accusata di aver riciclato il denaro del tesoro degli
Ustascia (sottratto alle vittime del genocidio del regime di Pavelic)
dopo la fine della seconda guerra mondiale.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Update: Vatican Bank Lawsuit Progressing
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 22:31:19 -0500
From: Jon Levy

February 23, 2006

For Immediate Release:
Jonathan Levy and Tom Easton Attorneys
resistk@...
202-318-2406
http://www.vaticanbankclaims.com

Current Update

Vatican Bank Lawsuit Progressing


San Francisco: Attorneys for plaintiffs in Alperin v. Vatican Bank a
lawsuit seeking recovery of assets looted from Yugoslavia during the
Second World War and converted post-war by the Vatican Bank and
Franciscan Order reports progress on several fronts:

The trial court has approved a Fourth Amended Lawsuit that
substantially enhances the existing claims and adds the Serbian
Republic of Krajina in Exile as a Plaintiff. Additional facts about
how the Ustasha Treasury came to the Vatican Bank, Vatican dealings in
gold bullion and the involvement of the Franciscan Order in Rome and
Chicago have been added.

The deposition of the only known witness to the Vatican and Franciscan
money laundering, former Army Counterintelligence Special Agent William
Gowen is set to continue in Dallas on March 9, 2006. Gowen’s
eyewitness testimony has revealed so far that Vatican official Fr.
Krunoslav Draganovic admitted to Gowen that he received up to ten
truckloads of loot in 1946 at the Franciscan controlled Croatian
Confraternity of San Girolamo. Gowen also testified that the leader of
the treasure convoy, Ustasha Colonel Ivan Babic, boasted to Gowen of
using British uniforms and trucks to move the gold from Northern Italy
to Rome. As for the Ustasha Treasury’s ultimate destination, Gowen
concurred that it could have gone nowhere but the Vatican Bank.

Gowen’s testimony is likely to remain unchallenged by any living
witness given the recent death of former longtime Vatican Bank
President, Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, who likely knew of the Ustasha
transaction but never spoke of it.

Further the United States Supreme Court has denied a Vatican Bank and
Franciscan Appeal to halt the lawsuit. The US State Department has
also denied previous requests by the Vatican Secretariat to dismiss the
lawsuit.


For more information contact:

Jonathan Levy, Esq.
resistk@...
202-318-2406