Slana concentration camp

Slana concentration camp[1] was a concentration and extermination camp on the Croatian island Pag. It was part of system of Ustaše concentration camps and killing pits, stretching from Gospič, across the Velebit mountains, to the island of Pag.

Slana
Concentration and extermination camp
Location of Slana within Croatia
Coordinates44.498°N 15.051°E / 44.498; 15.051
LocationCroatian island Pag
Built byMijo Babić
CommandantIvan Devčević
Killed4,000 — 12,000 (together with the women's camp Metajna)

The camp was established in June 1941 in Metajna. It was established by Mijo Babić[2] and controlled by the Ustaše, who had been installed as rulers of the puppet state of Croatia by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Slana was a men's camp. Most prisoners were Jews, Serbs and Croatian communists. The commander of the camp was Ivan Devčević, who was also a commander of the 13th Ustaša battalion which was garrisoned in the camp.[3]

The camp was closed in August 1941 by the Italian military, who feared that the brutality of the Ustaše would provoke unrest in the region. Historians have estimated the death toll in Slana and the women's camp Metajna to be between 4,000 and 12,000. Among the victims were 1.500 Jews.[4] During the first weeks the inmates mainly died of physical abuse, exhaustion, heat, hunger and thirst. Once incoming transports became more frequent and the camp started running out of space, the Ustaše began executing prisoners by the hundreds.

References
  • Wolfgang Benz, Barbara Distel (Hrsg.): Der Ort des Terrors — Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager. Band 9: Arbeitserziehungslager, Ghettos, Jugendschutzlager, Polizeihaftlager, Sonderlager, Zigeunerlager, Zwangsarbeiterlager. Verlag C. H. Beck, München 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-57238-8, S. 326.
  1. "SLANA". www.slana.info. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
  2. Proceedings in history. Odeljenje za društvene nauke, Matica srpska. 1974. p. 141.
  3. (Dedijer & Miletić 1990, p. 531)
  4. Goldstein, Ivo; Goldstein, Slavko (2016). The Holocaust in Croatia. University of Pittsburgh Press, published. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-8229-4451-5.
  5. Goldstein, Ivo; Goldstein, Slavko (2016). The Holocaust in Croatia. University of Pittsburgh Press, published. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-8229-4451-5.
  6. Goldstein, Ivo; Goldstein, Slavko (2016). The Holocaust in Croatia. University of Pittsburgh Press, published. p. 253. ISBN 978-0-8229-4451-5.
  7. Goldstein, Ivo; Goldstein, Slavko (2016). The Holocaust in Croatia. University of Pittsburgh Press, published. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-8229-4451-5.
  8. Goldstein, Slavko (2013). 1941: The Year that Keeps Returning. New York Review of Books. p. 280. ISBN 978-1-59017-673-3.
  9. Zemljar, Ante. "Charon and Destinies, Original documents of Italian military medical service".
  10. Zemljar, Ante. "Charon and Destinies, Translation of original Italian documents".
  11. "Za ustaški konc-logor Slana na Pagu i danas se ne smije znati, a policija brani pristup istražiteljima zločina". NACIONAL.HR (in Croatian). Retrieved 2020-04-01.

Sources
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