Summary
From the above
book:
Up to the end of
WWII most of the Croatian ethnic German population (Danube Swabians) fled their
homes and homeland due to the raging of the war mostly to Austria and Germany but
also to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Italy where they waited for the war to
end. Only those Danube Swabians stayed in their homelands back that were not
directly exposed to the dangers of the war.
The expulsion by
the Partisans and the newly established ‘peoples government’ of the rest of the
Danube Swabians in Yugoslavia and Croatia started towards the end of 1944 and the
beginning of 1945. The decision to ascribe the collective guilt on ethnic German
minority was influenced and implemented by the ’ Presidium of the anti-fascist
Council of the People’s Liberation of Yugoslavia’ (Antifašističko vijeće Narodnog
Oslobodjenja Jugoslavije - AVNOJ) on 21st of November 1944. Those
Yugoslavian ethnic Germans who did not seek refugee outside of the country were
exposed to the despotism of the victors towards the end and after the war.
After the Second
World War the communist authorities deprived the ethnic German minority of their
national and civic rights. Only those Yugoslavian ethnic German people were exempt
of the collective revenge, which could prove that they actively participated in the
guerilla movement.
The communist
Yugoslavian government no longer regarded its ethnic German population as citizen of
Yugoslavia no matter if they fled or were expulsed. Those authorities prohibited the
return of the ethnic German refugees to their homeland and had the intention to
throw out the remaining members of the ethnic German minority. Through the expulsion
and the confiscation of the ethnic German property the Yugoslavian communist
authorities had a simple way to radically change the ownership situation and the
ethnicity picture in the country.
After the takeover of the power the ethnic Germans were arrested in certain
localities and thrown into camps, by the order of ‘Department for the Protection of
the People’ (Odjeljenje za saštitu naroda – OZN-a) and by the ‘corps of the
Yugoslavian People’s Defense’ (Narodne obrane corpus Jugoslavije – KNOJ)
where from they were to be expelled from Yugoslavia. One part of the Yugoslavian
ethnic Germans, and of course the Croatian, was expelled to Austria immediately.
Since the
Yugoslavian-Austrian, Yugoslavian-Italian and Yugoslavian-Hungarian borders were
closed in mid-July 1945 by the Allied occupation forces, the expulsion of the ethnic
German minority from Yugoslavia was no longer possible, and the only options for the
most of the Yugoslavian ethnic Germans remained the concentration camps and forced
labor camps.
Between late 1944
and early 1948 about 170,000 Yugoslavian ethnic Germans were interned into the camps
from about 195,000 still living in the country. Documents confirm that whole ethnic
German families were sent to camps, including elderly people, women with children
irrespective of their age.
The internees
were at first used as workers outside of the camps, for example working on road
construction and for some seasonal agriculture work. Soon however they were used
systematically in an organized way on the large agricultural estates and at diverse
manufacturing companies. Farmers from the neighboring villages ‘borrowed’ the
internees from the camps to work in a variety of agricultural labour; therefore in
effect they were ‘rented out’ by the camp’s administration as long as they received
the money for it.
Considering the
living conditions in the camps, the work outside of the camp in most cases improved
the survival of the internees. According to the statements or recollections of the
internees, many of the farmers, Croats, Serbs and other nationalities had a great
deal of sympathy for the internees and provided them assistance in clothing and
food. The living conditions in the camps were more than inadequate, especially
concerning hygiene and food supplies. Countless internees became ill and died.
Especially during the fall and winter of 1945 the typhoid epidemic raged throughout
all the Croatian/Yugoslavian concentration camps on a frightening scale.
The desperate
fate of the internees were influenced not only through unfavorable living
accommodation but also by very poor nutrition, inadequate sanitation, lack of
medication and medical assistance, as well as from various diseases and exhausting
forced labour, to which the internees were not accustomed. Only by the end of March
or April of 1946 was the typhoid fever in the internment camps controlled, after the
appropriate measures have been undertaken. Even if the living conditions in the
camps were somewhat normalized, the life in the camps was hardly bearable. Most of
the death causes in the camps were typhoid fever and dysentery, old age weakness,
fatigue, coldness and hunger. Extermination was not undertaken on the grand scale or
was numerous, but there have been too much ill treatments as well as killings. From
all the information provided around 50,000 to 60,000 ethnic Germans were killed in
the Yugoslavian concentration camps.
In the postwar
period the communist Yugoslavian authorities made no age or gender differences when
it came to the ethnic German population. The fate and the situation of the ethnic
German people depended in some cases on their age, physical strength and health, but
also on the good or bad mood of those who had the power over them and over their
destiny.
At least some 10,000 to 18,000 of about 20,000 Croatian ethnic German people
remained in the summer of 1945 in the internment camps after the
Yugoslavian-Austrian border was sealed off and none of the displaced persons from
Yugoslavia were admitted to Austria. At that time a significant number of Croatian
ethnic Germans, who did not consider themselves ethnic German or declared themselves
as such, were interned in the Croatian camps because of their ethnicity and their
last names. The largest internment camps for the members of ethnic German minority
in Croatia between May 1945 and January 1947, according to all sources, were
Josipovac near Osijek, Valpovo, Velika Pisanica near Bjelovar, Krndija at Đakovo,
Šipovac at Našice, Pusta Podunavlje in the Baranya and Tenja/Tenjska Mitnica near
Osijek.
In May of 1945
the first major collection/concentration camps were established in Josipovac near
Osijek and Valpovo, for the ethnic Germans from Slavonia, Syrmien and Baranya
particularly, but also for the ethnic Germans from Bosanska Posavina (Bosnia).
The first groups of ethnic German people were first interned in Jisipovac. More than
3,000 people were interned in May of 1945 in this camp mostly elderly, women and
children.
The transports
with the ethnic German people were sent to Austria from Slavonia and from Bosanska
Posavina at the beginning of July 1945 as well as from the Josipovac and Valpovo
camps. In the overcrowded train cattle cars there was not enough food and water so
that most of the transported ethnic Germans became sick and some did not survive the
trip of a few days at all. On 8th of July 1945 a train transport with
3,000 internees was sent out of the Josipovac concentration camp and none of the
transported knew its destination. After the long, exhausting journey the interned
ethnic German people were kept in Leibnitz in Austria for two days in sealed cattle
cars, and eventually their armed escort expelled them from the wagons and just left
them there. Two days later, on the 10th of July 1945 the Josipovac
collection camp was dissolved and the small number of internees still there was
moved to the nearby Valpovo labour camp.
On 22nd
of July 1945 about 1,800 ethnic German people were transported from Valpovo
concentration camp in train cattle cars to Austria. Since the British occupation
authorities in Austria did not want to absorb those internees this shipment was sent
back from the Yugoslavian-Austrian boarder, and moved aimlessly for a few days until
the journey ended at the concentration camp of Velika Pisanica next to Bjelovar. The
same fate suffered in July of 1945 another two shipments of the ethnic German people
who were sent to the Austrian boarder.
As per confirmed
estimation in these rejected transports were about 5,000 to 6,000 people, mostly
elderly, women and children. After a short stay in Velika Pisanica the ethnic German
internees were transported as of beginning of August until 10th of August
1945 to other internment camps in the eastern part of Croatia (Valpovo and Krndija
concentration camps). It prolonged the suffering of the ethnic German people from
Slavonia, Syrmien, from Baranya and Bosanska Posavina, who were part of these
transports.
The best example
of the fate of the Croatian ethnic German population is the village of Krndija in
Slavonia, four kilometers northwest of Punitovci (county of Đakovo area). The
previously predominantly ethnic German settlement, which since its inception in the
year 1882/1883 expanded rapidly, disappeared almost over night: at the end of
October 1944 its population moved out or fled ahead of the danger and the Krndija
village was transformed by the Yugoslavian communist administration into a
internment camp in Croatia for the ethnic German population after the Second World
War. Between August 1945 and May 1946 the ethnic German village Krndija near Đakovo
(Djakovo) was one of the largest internment camps for the remainder of the ethnic
German population in Croatia and Yugoslavia.
At first a
prisoner of war camp was established in Krndija (German and Croat soldiers) and for
Croatia’s political prisoners. The internment camp Krndija was converted into an
internment camp for the ethnic German people, therefore for the remainder of the
ethnic German population from Slavonia and Syrmien, from western parts of Croatia
and from Bosanska Posavina only when on the 15th of August the interned
ethnic Germans from Velika Pisanica were transported to there. The internees were
supposed to fence the camp with barbed wire themselves. Other ethnic German
internees arrived into camp Krndija later also.
The first
commander of the camp was Ivan Tomljenović and later Milan Komlenović took over this
function. The members of KNOJ choose the camp administration leaders and camp
commander, of whom four were women, and according to the statements and
recollections of the internees they were more cruel than most. The internees were
picked up by the farmers of the neighboring villages and used as workers for a
variety of fieldwork, respectively they were ‘hired’ for a verity of jobs and the
camp administration received payment for it. According to the
statements/recollections of the internees many farmers showed understanding towards
their plight and gave them assistance in food and clothing. Similar as in other
camps the hard lot of the internees was influenced by the dismal accommodation
conditions, but also by the very poor nutrition, poor hygiene, lack of medication
and medical assistance, and various diseases and strenuous forced labour to which
the internees were not accustomed.
Most of the
internees died from disease, especially typhoid fever, as well as from fatigue,
hunger and cold. In winter 1945/1946, especially in January 1946, an epidemic of
typhoid fever broke out in the camp, which soon spread alarmingly. By the end of
March or early April 1946 the typhoid fever was under control after correct measures
were undertaken. Outright killings and executions in Krndija camp were extremely
rare, even though there were some cases, which could not be overseen. The deceased
internees were buried at the village cemetery, many without any grave headstones or
inscriptions.
As per the report
of the Interior Ministry of the People’s Government of Croatia in the camp of
Krndija in October of 1945 were some 3,500 internees kept, mostly elderly, women and
children, who were used for different forced labour work. It is estimated that in
the Krndija camp approximately 3,500 to 4,000 people were imprisoned during its
existence and that about 500 to 1500 of them died in the camp, mostly from
starvation, dysentery and typhoid fever. Up to this date at least 337 persons who
died in the camp were identified from various historical sources and most of them
were elderly, women and children.
Krndija
internment camp was dissolved in May of 1946. Those internees, who were not
released, were sent until the end of May 1946 to other camps (Podunalvje in Baranya,
Tenja/Tenjska Mitnica near Osijek, to Gakovo, Bačka and to Knićanin/Rudolfsgnad in
the Banat. They were sent as internees from those camps to others to forced labour.
A significant number of former internees continued to work in agriculture as well as
in different companies in Slavonia even after the dissolution of the Krndija
concentration camp.
Most of the
Croatian ethnic German population, but also those from other Yugoslavian republics,
emigrated after their release from the concentration camps as soon as the
Yugoslavian borders were somewhat opened, especially in the 50’s of the 20th
Century to Austria and Germany. They were forced to this step, because of their
ethnicity they were deprived of almost all of their rights.
Not until the 1st
of November 1997 was the first commemoration performed in Krndija for the victims of
the Krndija’s concentration camp years 1945/1946. On the part of Krndija’s cemetery
where the internees from the camp were buried, a memorial to all the victims of the
camp from the years 1945/1946 was placed on 7th of October 1999 with the
incretion in the Croatian and German language:
"U počast i spomen Podunavskim Nijemcima žrtvama
zatočeničkog logora Krndija 1945/1946"
"In commemoration of the honorific Swabian victims
in extermination camps Krndija 1945 / 1946 "
(In honour and memory of the Danube Swabian victims of
the extermination camp Krndija 1945/1946)
--------------
for more information on the book:
Logor_Krndija
.jpg)