Biography
Dr. Milan B. Koljanin (Belgrade, 1953) is a retired Senior Research Associate of the Institute for Contemporary History in Belgrade, where he concluded his tenure in 2018. Since 2022, he has been engaged as an associate at the “Staro Sajmište” Memorial Center in Belgrade. He graduated from the Department of History at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, where he also earned his Master’s and Doctoral degrees. His research focuses on the phenomena of the political and social history of Serbia and Yugoslavia during the interwar period and, notably, during the Second World War. He has investigated the history of specific social groups, such as students and refugees, as well as repressive systems in Yugoslavia during WWII—specifically the establishment and functioning of concentration camps and camp systems. His expertise includes the policy and repressive legislation of the Independent State of Croatia, the Holocaust in Serbia and Yugoslavia, and issues regarding the systematization and utilization of historical sources on the Holocaust. Furthermore, Dr. Koljanin has published studies on the use of film and anti-Semitic stereotypes in propaganda within occupied Serbia, the history of Jews and anti-Semitism in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the political activities of the Roman Catholic Church during WWII, and the rescue operations of Serbian children from camps in the Independent State of Croatia. His work also covers themes related to the First World War, particularly the crimes of the Bulgarian occupation administration in Serbia, and the genocide against the Roma (Samudaripen) in occupied Serbia. He has presented keynote addresses and papers at numerous scientific gatherings both domestically and abroad. He is the author of three monographs and a large number of papers published in thematic collections and scientific journals worldwide. He served as a member of the editorial board for the journal Istorija 20. veka (History of the 20th Century) and as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Jewish Historical Museum. He is a member of the Academic Working Group of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). As an associate of the “Staro Sajmište” Memorial Center, he co-authored two exhibitions with curator Asja Drača Muntean.
The Release of Inmates from the Jasenovac and Loborgrad Camps in March 1942
Abstract: The mass and systematic destruction of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), which reached its climax in the summer of 1941, along with the Serbian uprising at the end of July that same year, led to various consequences and reactions from the patrons of the Ustashe state—Germany and Italy—as well as the NDH itself. The Italian reoccupation of the so-called Second Zone and the interior of the Ustashe state’s territory led to certain changes in the implementation of the Ustashe genocidal policy. Due to the arrival of Italian troops, the Gospić–Jadovno–Pag system of death camps was hastily disbanded; from August 21, 1941, the remaining detainees were sent via the temporary camp in Jastrebarsko to the Jasenovac camp, which was then in its formative stages (temporary camps Jasenovac 1 Bročice and Jasenovac 2 Krapje). Due to these new circumstances, the concept of camps serving solely as execution sites—as was the case with the Gospić-Jadovno-Pag system—was altered. Certainly following the Nazi model, the new camp system centered in Jasenovac served a dual function as both a death camp and a concentration camp. Given the expansion of insurgent actions, the large influx of Serbian refugees, increasing German military engagement, and fears of expanding Italian influence, German authorities in the NDH and occupied Serbia sought to influence a mitigation of the Ustashe state's genocidal policy. One of the conclusions of the Zagreb conference in late January 1942, held at the request of the Plenipotentiary Commanding General in Serbia, was to transfer 1,400 individuals from Croatian concentration camps to Serbia according to provided lists. A part of this German pressure also included the visit of an "international commission" to the Jasenovac camp on February 6, 1942. The engagement of German factors from Serbia in the release of Serbs from Ustashe camps was also influenced by interventions from the government of General Nedić, which sought to capitalize on its participation in crushing the uprising during the autumn of 1941. This process concluded with the release of a group of 13 detainees from the Jasenovac camp—which also had a police-intelligence background—and a group of 140 women and children from the Loborgrad camp. At the end of March 1942, they were transferred to occupied Serbia and handed over to the Commissariat for Refugees and Resettlers.
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