Vladimir Bursać

Abstract: Shortly after the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a new authority was set up across the territories of Bosanska Krajina and the 16 districts of the Vrbas Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. State institutions, municipal boards, districts, gendarmerie, police, and the home guard (army) were created. This was followed by a new geographical organization through the formation of "Great Parishes" (Velike župe) centered in Banja Luka and Bihać. Simultaneously with the NDH government bodies, the party network of the Ustashe organization was established—ranging from the village "swarm" (roj) and the municipal "camp" (tabor) to the district "center" (logor), culminating in the Ustashe Militia as an armed force. As early as April, attempts to legalize planned actions were evident, aimed at achieving the goals of the Ustashe movement, the most significant being the creation of an ethnically pure space for the new state. The first news of events in Bosanska Krajina reached occupied Serbia in August 1941 through the recorded statements of Serbian refugees from NDH territory. These testimonies were recorded and systematized by the Commissariat for Refugees and Resettlers of Milan Nedić’s government, and by the Commission on the Suffering of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) and the Serbian People in the regions of Yugoslavia outside the territory of Serbia and Banat. Partial publication of these testimonies was sporadic, while systematic publication began in 2020 through the efforts of the Museum of Genocide Victims in Belgrade, continuing via private initiative from 2022. Finally, in 2023, a set of seven books was published (six thematic-geographical volumes and one volume on Historical Context – Analysis).

For this study, 23 recorded testimonies from 36 witnesses from the Bosanska Krajina area, published in four collections, were selected. The testimonies were analyzed and cross-referenced by events, mentioned individuals, and locations. These accounts are detailed; witnesses name the organizers and participants of the pogroms, as well as the specific events in which they took part. Before us unfold numerous planned and organized activities aimed at the displacement and expulsion of the Serbian population, accompanied by the confiscation of property, extortion, looting, the desecration and destruction of religious sites, the physical destruction of the military-age population, and pressure for religious conversions. From these testimonies, over 80 years old, we see the clear intent of a state to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, or religious group.