THE USTASHA ATROCITIES – A Collection of Documents (1941–1942)

This – English – edition of the book is a translation of the one in the Serbian language, published in 2022 under the title Ustaška zverstva: Zbornik dokumenata (1941–1942). As far as the corpus of the Dossier from the personal fonds of Slavko Odić is concerned – and it makes the essential body of this book – the translation team worked from its Serbian version given in the said book and not from the German original.

Based on the documents in the collection entitled Ustasha Atrocities, it can reliably be concluded that the Ustasha atrocities were a fact of first-class political, then growingly military significance, but they were not processed as such for a relatively long time. The purpose of forming the dossier was, in accordance with German interests, to give this fact due importance. The German occupation factors, both in Serbia and in the Ustasha state, were well acquainted with the mass crimes against Serbs, as well as that the strategic policy of the Ustasha state was the annihilation of the Serbian people. They were well acquainted with the means and methods by which this was achieved, not only in ethnic Serbian areas, but also in Ustasha death camps and concentration camps. Based on the strategic German anti-Serb policy, the Ustasha policy of destroying Serbs (by expulsion and killing) enjoyed German support.