Editing Vjekoslav Luburić
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Following the outbreak of [[World War II]], the [[Axis Powers]] invaded Yugoslavia in 1941 and allowed the Ustaše to establish the Independent State of Croatia. The Ustaše almost immediately passed laws allowing the establishment of concentration camps and the massacre of prisoners; while these did target Jews and Roma, they were mostly aimed at eradicating the Serb population of Croatia, with the Ustaše openly declaring their intent to exterminate one-third of Serbs, expel one-third and force one-third to assimilate into Catholicism. Luburić entered Croatia soon after and was appointed as adjutant to [[Vjekoslav Servatzy]]. His first task was to conduct reprisals for the murder of a Croat family in the village of Blagaj. Luburić ordered the round-up of 400 Serbs in the neighbouring village of Veljun on the evening of 9 May and had them brought to Blagaj, where they were taken behind the schoolhouse and killed with knives and blunt objects, a massacre in which Luburić personally participated. | Following the outbreak of [[World War II]], the [[Axis Powers]] invaded Yugoslavia in 1941 and allowed the Ustaše to establish the Independent State of Croatia. The Ustaše almost immediately passed laws allowing the establishment of concentration camps and the massacre of prisoners; while these did target Jews and Roma, they were mostly aimed at eradicating the Serb population of Croatia, with the Ustaše openly declaring their intent to exterminate one-third of Serbs, expel one-third and force one-third to assimilate into Catholicism. Luburić entered Croatia soon after and was appointed as adjutant to [[Vjekoslav Servatzy]]. His first task was to conduct reprisals for the murder of a Croat family in the village of Blagaj. Luburić ordered the round-up of 400 Serbs in the neighbouring village of Veljun on the evening of 9 May and had them brought to Blagaj, where they were taken behind the schoolhouse and killed with knives and blunt objects, a massacre in which Luburić personally participated. | ||
In June Luburić was ordered to carry out cleansing actions in the Lika region after Ustashas in the villages of Gornja Suvaja and Donja Suvaja reported being shot at. On 1 July Luburić lead a group of 300 into the villages but found that the male population had fled into the wilderness, leaving behind the women, children and elderly. In a massacre lasting two hours, Luburić and his men shot 173 civilians and subjected the women to rape and sexual mutilation. On 2 July the Ustaše attacked the nearby village of Osredci, but found that only the elderly and infirm remained, as the rest of the villages had heard they were coming and fled. 30 of the remaining inhabitants were killed before Luburić and his men went on to attack nearby Bubanj, where 152 - 270 villagers were killed and twenty homes were burned down. On 3 July Luburić's unit detained 53 inhabitants of the village of Nebljusi, including ten children, and pushed them to their deaths in a sinkhole; two survived. By the end of the month Luburić's reprisals had killed approximately 1800 people. The atrocities in Lika | In June Luburić was ordered to carry out cleansing actions in the Lika region after Ustashas in the villages of Gornja Suvaja and Donja Suvaja reported being shot at. On 1 July Luburić lead a group of 300 into the villages but found that the male population had fled into the wilderness, leaving behind the women, children and elderly. In a massacre lasting two hours, Luburić and his men shot 173 civilians and subjected the women to rape and sexual mutilation. On 2 July the Ustaše attacked the nearby village of Osredci, but found that only the elderly and infirm remained, as the rest of the villages had heard they were coming and fled. 30 of the remaining inhabitants were killed before Luburić and his men went on to attack nearby Bubanj, where 152 - 270 villagers were killed and twenty homes were burned down. On 3 July Luburić's unit detained 53 inhabitants of the village of Nebljusi, including ten children, and pushed them to their deaths in a sinkhole; two survived. By the end of the month Luburić's reprisals had killed approximately 1800 people. The atrocities in Lika lead to an increased membership of the Croatian partisans and [[Chetniks]] and provoked the Srb uprising against the Ustaše. | ||
Following his campaign in Lika, Luburić was appointed head of Bureau III of the Ustaše Surveillance Service, the department with responsibility for the death camps in which Serbs, Jews and Roma were killed. Under the orders of [[Dido Kvaternik]], leader of the Surveillance Service, Luburić oversaw the construction of the [[Jasenovac concentration camp]], the largest camp in Croatia and one of the largest in Europe. He was dispatched to [[Nazi Party|Nazi Germany]] to learn about how their camps operated and modelled the operation of later camps off the German camps. Jasenovac initially consisted of two sub-camps which Luburić ordered the demolition of nearby towns to make room for; Luburić later ordered the two sub-camps destroyed and forced the prisoners at the camp to build three more, leaving those who were not able-bodied to die in the abandoned campgrounds. Most victims at the camp were murdered not at Jasenovac but at nearby killing sites through beating and stabbing; Luburić had experimented with [[Gas chamber|gas chambers]] at one point but this had gone nowhere. Luburić's brother-in-law [[Dinko Šakić]] and cousin [[Ljubo Miloš]] both served as commandant of Jasenovac at various times. | Following his campaign in Lika, Luburić was appointed head of Bureau III of the Ustaše Surveillance Service, the department with responsibility for the death camps in which Serbs, Jews and Roma were killed. Under the orders of [[Dido Kvaternik]], leader of the Surveillance Service, Luburić oversaw the construction of the [[Jasenovac concentration camp]], the largest camp in Croatia and one of the largest in Europe. He was dispatched to [[Nazi Party|Nazi Germany]] to learn about how their camps operated and modelled the operation of later camps off the German camps. Jasenovac initially consisted of two sub-camps which Luburić ordered the demolition of nearby towns to make room for; Luburić later ordered the two sub-camps destroyed and forced the prisoners at the camp to build three more, leaving those who were not able-bodied to die in the abandoned campgrounds. Most victims at the camp were murdered not at Jasenovac but at nearby killing sites through beating and stabbing; Luburić had experimented with [[Gas chamber|gas chambers]] at one point but this had gone nowhere. Luburić's brother-in-law [[Dinko Šakić]] and cousin [[Ljubo Miloš]] both served as commandant of Jasenovac at various times. | ||