The Syrmia massacre was the

mass killing Mass killing is a concept which has been proposed by genocide scholars who wish to define incidents of non-combat killing which are perpetrated by a government or a state. A mass killing is commonly defined as the killing of group members without ...

of between 3,000 to 7,000

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

in early August 1942 in the region of

Syrmia Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the exce ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The massacre occurred following a joint military anti-partisan operation by units of the

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

and the

German Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

Background and prelude

On 6 April 1941, the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

, consisting of German, Italian, Hungarian and Bulgarian forces invaded Yugoslavia from all sides. Following the capitulation of the Royal Yugoslav government, the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

(NDH), a German Nazi puppet-state covering most of the territories of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by

Ante Pavelić Ante Pavelić (; 14 July 1889 – 28 December 1959) was a Croatian politician who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and served as dictator of the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, l ...

and his Croatian fascist ultranationalist

political movement was established. In accordance with Italian and German Nazi policies,

racial laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Disabilities (Jewish), Jewish "disabilities". Some were adopted in the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany ...

were introduced against the NDH's minority populations, which included the formation of concentration camps. While the Germans were content with the persecution of

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

, they were less enthusiastic about the regime's genocide campaign against Serbs as it drove Serbs to rebel and join

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

's multi-ethnic

Yugoslav Partisan The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

resistance movement, thus jeopardizing the stability of the NDH. Syrmia, a region which lies between the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

and

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...

rivers was formerly a borderland of the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

empire. Although the German administration was anti-communist and resorted to violence, they were not interested in the persecution of Serbs and thus, Serbs were not targeted as part of Germany's European wide genocidal policies. Thus, Ustaše terror against Serbs was comparatively limited to within the territories of the occupied Yugoslavia. However, by the spring of 1942, the Partisans established detachments in the

Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора; hu, Tarcal-hegység) is a mountain in Syrmia, administratively part of Serbia with a part of its western side extending into eastern Croatia. The area under Serbian administration forms the countr ...

mountains, raiding the lowlands and by the middle of the summer they expanded their detachments. Seeking to disrupt Ustaše rule and the German war effort, they raided and shot soldiers or police officers and sabotaged railroad lines. They also induced a shortage of harvest among the peasantry causing famine. Ustaše violence increased and the calls for a united Axis offensive against the Partisans grew. Viktor Tomić was appointed as the Ustaše police commissar in Syrmia and in coordination with local Ustaše units, raided Serb villages.

The killings

Ustaše youth and militia began arresting Serb civilians. Entire male populations from villages were taken away. Approximately 3,000-4,000 predominantly males were arrested and taken to the main prison in Mitrovica. The prisoners were subjected to interrogations, beatings, torture and sometimes rape. Additional arrested Serbs were taken to the nearest detention camps. Many of the Serb hostages were sentenced to death and the majority wound up being shot by the Ustaše militia, regardless of their political affiliation. The largest single massacre occurred on the night of 4-5 September 1942 when more than a thousand prisoners were taken to the Orthodox cemetery of Mitrovica. Some Ustaše began stabbing prisoners and killings ensued. The massacre ended sometime in the early morning and bodies were dumped in mass graves which had been dug by other captured Serbs. Most sources list the number of Serbs killed to be 2,000-3,000 while the

lists up to 7,000 victims for the period of August to early September 1942. Several hundred prisoners were also taken to the

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camps, extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in I ...

. The German military described the massacres as "slaughter and sadistic riots".

Aftermath

The attitudes towards the shootings highlighted the differences between the Wehrmacht and Ustaše. Whereas the Ustaše applied violence indiscriminately, the Wehrmacht enacted reprisal shootings according to the German code of conduct set out by

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

. Mass killings of suspected Partisans were deemed useful but they felt that the Ustaše's approach was counterproductive.

References

Sources

* * {{coord missing, Croatia Massacres in the Independent State of Croatia 1942 in Croatia Massacres in 1942 History of the Serbs of Croatia Mass murder in 1942 Massacres of Serbs War crimes of the Wehrmacht Massacres committed by Nazi Germany