The Valpovo work camp ( hr, Radni logor Valpovo, german: Arbeitslager Walpau) was a camp set up by the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

for Germans and Austrians in the

aftermath of the Second World War The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of a new era started in late 1945 (when World War II ended) for all countries involved, defined by the decline of all colonial empires and simultaneous rise of two superpowers; the Soviet Union (US ...

. The camp operated from 1945 to 1946. Germans and Austrians on

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n territory were considered by the Yugoslav authorities to be collectively guilty for

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

crimes. With the fall of 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 ...

in May 1945, camps for Croatian German civilians were formed in

Valpovo Valpovo is a town in Slavonia, Croatia. It is close to the Drava river, northwest of Osijek. The population of Valpovo is 7,406, with a total of 11,563 in the municipality. Name In Hungarian the town is known as ''Valpó'' and in German as ''Wa ...

, Josipovac, and Krndija. Approximately four thousand people passed through the camp. They were subjected to forced labor, mostly in agriculture. According to the survivors' testimonies, there were no executions at the camp, save for a few incidents. However, due to the harsh living conditions and lack of food and medical care, prisoners fell victim to disease, particularly during a severe outbreak of epidemic typhus in early 1946. From May 1945 to May 1946, at least 1,074 people are known to have died at the camp. The dead were buried in the local cemetery, some in unmarked graves. Upon the closing of the camp in May 1946, the prisoners were either released, transferred to other work camps, or reassigned to forced labor tasks in the eastern

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...

and

Baranya Baranya or Baranja may refer to: * Baranya (region) or Baranja, a region in Hungary and Croatia * Baranya County, a county in modern Hungary * Baranya County (former), a county in the historic Kingdom of Hungary * Baranya, Hungarian name of villag ...

areas. In 2003, a monument to the camp's victims was raised in Valpovo cemetery. The unveiling was attended by camp survivors, Croatian and German officials, politicians and diplomats, and was accompanied by a mass by then-bishop of Đakovo-Syrmia, Marin Srakić.

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* * * {{cite journal, last=Geiger, first=Vladimir, journal=Časopis za suvremenu povijest, volume=38, issue=3, date=January 2007, title=Logori za folksdojčere u Hrvatskoj nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata 1945-1947., trans-title=Camps for Volksdeutsch in Croatia after the Second World War, 1945 to 1947, pages=1081–1100, language=hr, format=PDF, url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/8377, access-date=23 June 2017 1945 in Croatia 1945 in Yugoslavia Socialist Republic of Croatia Political repression in Communist Yugoslavia Aftermath of World War II in Yugoslavia Mass murder in 1945 Mass murder in 1946

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