HRASTOVAC VILLAGE INFORMATION
NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES
FAMILY REGISTRY
RECORDS AND REFERENCES
PASSENGER RECORDS
SWABIAN TURKEY
BOOK RESEOURCES
DS ORPHANAGES
Hrastovac-Eichendorf-Family-Book
Rosina T. Schmidt
All Material © 2002-Present
DS-Logo
Hrastovac Lutheran Church
Hrastovac History
Danube-Swabian History
Where in the world is Hrastovac:
Sebastian Leight Sketches
Gieg, Ella, Odenwald Emigrants
Hessian Immigrants A-G
Hessian Immigrants H-K
Hessian Immigrants L – Q
Hessian Immigrants R – Sp
Hessian Immigrants St – Z
Hesse-Darmstadt Emigrants with Pastor Tonsor
Gross-Rohrheim Immigrants to Hungary
Heidebauern
Waldesian Connection
Pastor Reichard 1700-1753
Pastor Reichardt's Letters from Banat
Swabian-Turkey earliest Danube-Swabian localities
Hrastovac Statistics in 1938
From Hrastovac to Weiskirchen
Fallen and Missing Soldiers of the Hrastovac Mother Church
Le Comte de Mercy
Lutheranism and Danube-Swabians
Early Lutheran Church in Swabian-Turkey
Ansiedlungspatent 1728 by Emperor Jospeh II
Rebellion of Religion in Hungary in the 17th Century
Danube-Swabian Assimilation Distress
Ethnic Germans in Syrmia, Slavonia, Croatia und Bosnia, part one
Ethnic Germans in Syrmia, Slavonia, Croatia and Bosnia, part two
Ethnic Germans in Syrmia, Slavonia, Croatia und Bosnia, part three
The Habsburg Heart of Europe
Surchin in Syrmia
Sathmar
Destitute in America
Austro-Hungary Divided 1918-1923
A Watershed in Danube-Swabian history
Interwar Years in Yugoslavia
Ethnic Germans in Croatian 1931 Census, Josef Mayer
Ahnen Ausweiss
Waffen SS Prinz-Eugen Division
1919 – 1933 Ethnic Germans in Romania
Danube-Swabian Emigration to the United States of America
Hungarian Ethnic Germans in Waffen, part-One
Hungarian Ethnic Germans in Waffen, part-two
Hungarian Ethnic Germans in Waffen SS, part-three
Mose Pijade 1942 Declaration
Gyonk History and Expulsion
Ethnic Germans in Waffen SS – part four
Ethnic Cleansing Orders 1944-1945 in Yugoslavia
1944-Rukavina's Order #59
1944 Rukavina Authorization
1944 Rukavina's Order #69
1945 Eviction of Priest
Batchka's Trail of Tears
1944 Rukavina's Order
Tito's Starvation Camps
Sekitsch Concentration Camp Other Deaths
Krndija's Death Camp
Krndija's Starvation Camp Discharge Order
Genocide in the Banat
Genocide in the Banat (2)
Heimkehr, Dr. Geiger
Tiszalok post WWII Camp
Diaspora Swabian-Lutherans in Baranya
Czechoslovakia's Slave Labour Camp
Danube Swabian Losses in former Yugoslavia
Danube Swabian Lost Children
Ellis Island Records K – Z
Weddings in and around Hrastovac
Ochs, Peter, *1824, Descendants
Danube Swabian Art
2014 Mt. Angel Danube Swabian Conference
Bostik Family of Bastaji, Slavonia
Die Deutschen in der Vojvodina in Augen der jugoslawischen Behörden vor und nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg – Zoran Janjetović, PhD
Die Donauschwaben, by Zoran Janjetovic, PhD
Der Grosse Schwabenzug
Majos Photos
Laws and Regulations of the Austrian Empire Church Registers – by F. Gundacker
Mekenyes Photos
Geiger: Interrogation of Branimir ALTGAYER, the leader of Ethnic German National Assembly in the Independent State of Croatia, 1949
Ihr Leben hiess Treue
In New Homelands
DS-Logo Select Month
Prisoners and Victims
of the Communist Internment Camp "Krndija",
Vladimir Geiger, Phd
Croatian Institute for History
After World War Two, the new communist government in Yugoslavia took away all national and civil rights of the country's German minority (Volksdeutsche), as well as confiscating all of their property. The only Volksdeutsche who were not victims of this collective retribution were those who could prove their participation in, or at least assistance to, the Partisan movement. For the rest, their fate included the confiscation of their property, expulsion, and internment in camps. Ultimately, the history and fate of Croatian and Yugoslav Volksdeutsche at the end of World War Two was intimately, exclusively, and one-sidedly tied to the collapse of the Third Reich, as was generally the fate of Germans in eastern and southeastern Europe.
It has been estimated that out of the 500,000 Volksdeutsche who lived in the territory of Yugoslavia before the end of World War Two, some 240,000 were evacuated before the arrival of the Red Army and the National Liberation Army, i.e., Yugoslav Partisan units, never to return to their ancestral homes. Around 200,000 Volksdeutsche, not including those individuals mobilized into various military units, fell under the control of the communist government in Yugoslavia. About a quarter of that number died in internment camps, while the rest disappeared during the postwar ethnic cleansing or fled into exile. According to German/Volksdeutsche figures, of the 195,000 Volksdeutsche who remained in Yugoslavia, from the end of 1945 until early 1948 around 170,000 individuals were interned in camps.[1] Documentary sources and eyewitness accounts confirm that entire Volksdeutsche families, the elderly, and women with children, regardless of age, were sent into the camps. Based on the available sources, most of the deaths in the camps were due to diseases, such as typhus, fatigue, cold, and hunger. Even though liquidations were neither massive nor frequent, there were cases of abuse and killing. About 50,000 to 60,000 members of the German minority in the camps died from ill-treatment, cold, hunger, typhus, and dysentery. The death rate of the Volksdeutsche in Yugoslav camps was around 30%. At present, 70% (48,687) of the victims have been identified by name, and the newest research is definitely expanding these figures.[2]
At least 10,000 to 20,000 Croatian Volksdeutsche, for the most part civilians who remained in their native villages, were interned during 1945, 1946, and 1947 in transit and work camps, in which at least several thousand lost their lives.[3] Based on the available sources, the largest camps for German minorities on Croatian territory during that time period were Josipovac near Osijek, Valpovo, Velika Pisanica near Bjelovar, Krndija near ?akovo, Šipovac near Našice, Pusta Podunavlje in Baranja, and Tenja/Tenjska Mitnica near Osijek.[4]
This article focuses on the prisoners and victims in the Krndija internment camp, which operated from August 1945 until May 1946, including data on their numbers as well as age, sex, and background statistics.
A German village transformed into a camp
For the fate of Germans in Croatia, the village of Krndija in Slavonia (four kilometers northwest of Punitovci in the ?akovo area) is paradigmatic. Once a mostly ethnic German settlement, which grew quickly after being founded in 1882/1883, it disappeared literally "overnight." Its population moved or fled at the end of October 1944, while the Yugoslav communist authorities subsequently transformed Krndija into a camp for the remaining Germans in the region during 1945 and 1946.
From August 1945 until May 1946, the abandoned German village of Krndija became one of the largest internment camps in Croatia and Yugoslavia for the remaining Volksdeutsche population (mostly the elderly, women, and children) from Slavonia and Syrmia (?akovo, Vinkovci, Slavonski Brod, Županja, Slatina, Virovitica, Požega, Vukovar), central Croatia (Zagreb, Novska, Kutina, Garešnica, Daruvar, Bjelovar, Sisak, Kostajnica), and the Bosnian Posavina (Bosanski Brod, Bjeljina, Br?ko, Prnjavor). The unfortunate camp inmates were faced not only with unfavorable housing conditions, but had exceptionally bad nutrition, poor hygiene, and a scarcity of medicine and medical services, suffered from various diseases, and were subjected to a strenuous work regimen. They died mostly from diseases (such as typhus), hunger, exhaustion, and the cold. During the winter of 1945/1946, especially from January 1946, an epidemic of typhus fever began to ravage the camp and quickly reached terrifying proportions.[5] By the end of March and early April 1946, steps were taken to bring the epidemic under control. Other than a few isolated incidents, which undoubtedly occurred, killings and executions did not take place in Krndija. Dead inmates were buried at the local cemetery, often without tombstone markings or names. It is estimated that from 1945 to 1946, between 3,500 and 4,000 inmates passed through the Krndija camp, and approximately 500 to 1,500 of them lost their lives.[6]
History books, journalistic works, memoirs, and testimonies and eyewitness accounts by camp inmates, members of the camp administration, and other contemporaries, as well as documents, provide very different allegations, claims, estimates, and lists of names regarding the numbers and demographics of the Volkesdeutsche victims in camps in Croatia from May 1945 to early 1947, including the Krndija camp. The exact number of Croatian Volkesdeutsche who were interned in postwar camps, as well as the exact number of those who died, will certainly never be fully confirmed. In addition to all of the available documentary sources, testimonies, eyewitness accounts, and other related literature provide a basic overview of both the Volkesdeutsche camps in Croatia in general as well as the Krndija camp specifically.
Numbers and demographics of the Krndija camp inmates
As mentioned above, the most reliable sources and estimates suggest that from August 1945 to May 1946, between 3,500 and 4,000 individuals passed through the Krndija camp, most of whom were the elderly, women, and children.[7]
According to a report from the Department of National Security of the Slavonski Brod NO District from 18 September 1945, sent to the Interior Ministry's Department of Criminal Justice in Zagreb, the Krndija transit camp held 2,552 individuals.[8] Another report about the status of the German minority was sent on 12 November 1945 from the Interior Ministry of the People's Government of Croatia in Zagreb to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia (as well as the Federal Interior Ministry of DF Yugoslavia in Belgrade). The report stated that as of 30 October 1945, approximately 11,000 Germans, "German citizens, and those of German nationality" were placed in various camps in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Syrmia (the largest camps were Valpovo and Krndija, with 3,806 and 3,500 camp inmates respectively), where they were used for various work activities. It also noted that "whenever possible, they [the Volksdeutsche inmates] are used as labor and are expected to support themselves from their own work." The minister of the interior of the People's Government of Croatia, Vicko Krstulovi?, stated in the report that "especially accommodation and food supplies are a problem…For now we are placing them on special estates as much as conditions allow." He added that among the inmates there was a significant number of elderly people and children, "who make up about 30% of the inmates and who are for the most part in the Krndija camp, which has the best conditions to hold them."[9] According to a request for supplies from the People's District Committee in Slavonski Brod, in March 1946 there were 3,200 "captives," or "inmates," in the Krndija camp.[10]
Serious estimates of victims in the Krndija camp from 1945 to 1946 vary from several hundred[11] to at least 500,[12] from 500 to 1,500,[13] and even more than 2,000 individuals.[14] There also exist considerably larger, unsubstantiated, and exaggerated estimates and claims about the number of camp inmates (up to 10,000) and the number of victims (up to 5,000) in Krndija.[15] History books, articles in the press, memoirs, testimonies, and eyewitness accounts by camp survivors provide various claims, allegations, estimates, and descriptions of the Krndija camp in 1945 and 1946, especially regarding the functioning of and conditions in the camp in addition to the number of inmates and victims. For example, former camp inmate Peter Seiler estimates that there were about 3,000 individuals in Krndija, and that between August 1945 and May 1946 about 1,300 people had died of "starvation."[16] "The number [of inmates] was constantly changing," Seiler recalls, adding that "[b]ecause of frequent arrests new victims were always arriving." According the historiography of the Germans from the Danubian region of Croatia, which clearly contains exaggerations, of the 4,000 original inmates of the Krndija camp, soon only about 1,800 remained alive.[17]
The list of names of inmates at Krndija during 1945 and 1946, while certainly recorded, for the most part is missing and/or not accessible.
An unpublished, partially preserved, apparently official register (currently located in a private collection) of one group of inmates is titled "House pages Mbr. 28," and provides information on a number of male inmates.[18] On 122 legible (typewritten) and 25 illegible and faded (handwritten) pages, various details about the inmates are provided: first and last names, year and place of birth (or residence), and comments by the elder of the group, Adolf Tachtler (b. 1887) from Drenovci near Županja, about the absence, release, or death of particular inmates.[19] Among the group described in the document, there were Volksdeutsche from the towns of Brežice (1), Ba?ka Palanka (1), Kikinda (1), Bjelovar (1), Pakrac (1), Daruvar (2), Slavonska Požega (2), Zagreb (2), Beograd (3), Novska (3), Slatina (3), Prnjavor (4), Garešnica (6), Vinkovci (42), and ?akovo (50). The inmates had the following birth dates: 1878 (two men), 1879, 1882, 1883, 1884 (three men), 1885 (two men); 1886 (three men), 1887, 1889 (three men), 1891, 1893 (five men), 1894 (four men), 1895 (three men), 1896 (two men), 1897, 1898 (six men), 1899 (two men), 1900, 1901 (three men), 1902 (five men), 1903, 1904 (four men), 1905 (three men), 1906 (three men), 1907 (two men), 1908 (two men), 1909 (four men), 1910 (four men), 1911 (two men), 1912, 1913, 1914 (two men), 1915 (four men), 1916, 1917 (two men), 1918 (two men), 1919 (three men), 1920 (three men), 1921, 1923 (three men), 1924, 1925 (two men), 1926 (four men), 1927 (five men), 1928 (four men), 1929 (four men), 1930 (three men), and 1931. Thus, in this group there was one child (fourteen and under), 118 men of working age (from ages fifteen to sixty-five), and three elderly men (older than sixty-five); the youngest was fourteen, while the eldest was sixty-seven.
Peter Seiler from Vinkovci kept records of some of the Krndija inmates, about 1,000 individuals, most of whom were women and children. He noted that there were 278 from Vinkovci, 295 from the area around Vinkovci, forty-five from the area around Vukovar, seventy-five from Bjelovar, forty-eight from Kutina, forty-two from Slatina, thirty-six from Br?ko, and 172 from Županja.[20]
Piecing together the list of names of inmates in the Krndija camp in 1945 and 1946 is possible, despite the lack of certain reliable sources, through the use of a limited number of archival documents, names cited in camp release forms, camp obituaries, inmate correspondence, diary entries, autographs in books, various lists of the deceased in the camp, as well as testimonies and recollections of former inmates and their contemporaries.
According to some sources, the list of inmates in Krndija (apparently with information on the number of deceased, both those who died and those who were killed), along with the remaining prisoners, was taken over by the Headquarters of the Tenja/Tenjska Mitnica camp after the Krndija camp was dissolved in May 1946. For example, on 13 January 1946, the Interior Ministry's Department for Prison Sentences reported to the Presidency of the People's Republic of Croatia about the fate of Josip Deutsch from Daruvarski Sokolovac, a Canadian citizen sought by Great Britain's consulate in Zagreb. The report stated that "subsequent investigation in the records of the disbanded work camp for German civilians in Tenjska Mitnica establishes that inmate Josip Deutsch died from typhus fever in the Krndija camp on 2 February 1946." On 17 January 1947, the Cabinet of the Presidency of NR Croatia informed the British consulate that "the information was confirmed and is in the records of the disbanded work camp for German civilians in Tenjska Mitnica."[21] The final fate of the above-mentioned camp documentation is unknown. The Central Department for Prison Administration of the Croatian Ministry of Justice, along with local administrations and offices, claim that they do not possess documentation related to the Krndija camp, stating that "the department does not have at its disposal, nor does it possess any information about, the documentation."[22]
The Krndija internment camp is mentioned, either directly or indirectly, by the "Commission for determining the crimes of the occupiers and collaborators" of the District NOO for Slavonski Brod, which noted the numbers and/or names of local ethnic Germans interned during August, September, and October 1945, the majority of whom ended up in Krndija.[23] According to a report sent from the Slavonski Brod district to the Zagreb branch of the Commission on 23 October, 1,551 ethnic Germans were interned in camps, in this case most of them probably in the Krndija camp.[24] The reports regularly noted that all of the remaining Volksdeutsche were located in camps, except for those individuals from mixed marriages (although this was not always the case), individuals who were in, or whose family members were in, the Partisan movement or Yugoslav Army, and those individuals who had helped the Partisan movement. The reports also mentioned the release of previously interned individuals who had subsequently managed to prove their connections or assistance to the Partisans and Yugoslav Army.
In the early post-war period, many individuals with German heritage or German names were interned at the Krndija camp, even though they did not feel or declare themselves as Germans. In the internment camps, including Krndija, there were also many Germans who had emphatically embraced a Croatian identity. For example, a report from the Municipal NO for Podvinje sent to the Commission in Slavonski Brod on 10 August 1945, describes the Germans in Podvinje in the following way: "They belonged to the HSS [Croatian Peasant Party]. They were not members of the Kulturbund. During the war and the occupation, they behaved properly towards the local population."[25] Renown Croatian intellectual, Ivan Supek, described in his writings how one of his cousins from the ?akovo region, Mišo Geiger, was a devoted follower of HSS founder Stjepan Radi?.[26] On 16 August 1945, the local Commission for war crimes in Bošnjaci reported to their superiors in Županja that in Bošnjaci "the general conduct of the 'Volksdeutsche' before the war did not differ from the Croat townsfolk, and they did not assert themselves as, or behave like, Germans."[27] A report from the Commission for war crimes in the village of Rajevo Selo, dated 20 August 1945, described seventeen individuals from Rajevo Selo who were interned in a camp (most likely Krndija), adding that "these individuals are not guilty of anything beyond being members of the Kulturbund."[28]
According to Mate Šimundi?, in April 1945 the new authorities drafted lists of those individuals in ?akovo and the surrounding region who were members of the German and Austrian minority. This was not difficult, since most were members of the association called Kulturbund, which was already established in the first Yugoslavia. However, there were also those who had never joined this association. Many of them had German last names, but had considered themselves Croats; they did not even understand a word of German. Some spelled their names Becker, Bogner, Hatwagner, Hoffer, Litz, Mayer, Müller, Pless, Spitzer, Zechmeuster, and so forth, while others wrote Beker, Hatvanger, Lic, Majer, etc. They tried in vain to convince the authorities that they were neither Germans nor Austrians, because their fathers and grandfathers also had not considered themselves anything but Croats. Soon all of those on the lists were arrested and taken to the Krndija transit camp. Entire families were taken.[29] In a letter dated 15 January 1946, Krndija prisoner Marija Mira Knöbl wrote to her grandmother and grandfather in ?akovo about her experience in the camp: "Only now do I remember those wonderful days of freedom, in a world where people thought and felt as I do, and not behind this barbed wire fence with all these Swabians [Germans], whom I always hated and never identified with."[30]
On 23 February 1946, Ana Antes (b. 1924) died, apparently of typhus fever, in the Krndija camp, and a few days later, on 27 February, so did her father, Stjepan Antes (b. 1902) from Satnica ?akova?ka.[31] According to the Municipal NOO for Satnica ?akova?ka, in a report to the District NOO in Slavonski Brod sent on 10 June 1945, Stjepan Antes had been among twenty Germans (Swabians) who had remained in his village "and whom the Municipal NOO considers eligible for protection because they committed no offense against the National Liberation Movement or against the interests of the village." Stjepan Antes is claimed to have "helped the National Liberation Movement, knew about the work of its members, always avoided the occupiers, and gave war credits." The District NOO in Slavonski Brod forwarded the report on 13 June 1945 to the County NOO in ?akovo to be verified and decided upon. On 19 June, the answer from ?akovo was that they "have nothing against the wishes of the inhabitants of Djak[ova?ka] Satnica."[32] Despite all of this, after the transfer of all remaining Germans to transit and labor camps, Stjepan Antes ended up in Krndija with his family; his wife Ana née Haupert and daughter, also named Ana.
In practice, justification for internment in camps or the confiscation of property of the German minority was simply the fact that they were Germans, or at least the government considered them to be so. In 1945, Josip Najbert from ?ur?anci, near ?akovo, and his family were interned in Krndija in 1945 despite the fact that he was a member of the NOO.[33] According a 3 May 1946 report of the Educational Department of the County NO for Vinkovci, Gotfrid Muter, a teacher from Ostrovo (near Vinkovci) who had been interned in Krndija from 19 January until 29 April 1946 because of his German background, had previously been considered "having very good character traits" by the local Ostrovo NO.[34]
At a plenary meeting of the city council held in Požega on 2 October 1945, board member Franjo Pipini? raised the question of the arrests, expulsions, and internment in Krndija of those individuals who were considered Germans without basis. "Regarding the expelled Germans from Požega who were taken to the internment camp, this action should be reconsidered, because among them are people who were never Germans, never identified themselves as Germans, nor did they ever commit any offense against the National Liberation Movement…how did it come to pass that even these people were sent into the camps?," asked Pipini?. Another board member, Tomo Š?ulac, commented that there were in fact incidents that those kinds of people had been interned in camps. So as to avoid any misinterpretations, he explained that the city NO was not to blame because the entire action was carried out by a specific commission, which enforced the directive too strictly and excessively, leading to the imprisonment of those people in the camp. He described that many of the mistakes had already been corrected, and gave the names of people who had been released from the internment camp. The requests of the remaining mistakenly interned people were already directed to the appropriate places in charge of releasing them from the camp, while requests that had been returned néeding additional information were going to be quickly resolved. As a conclusion, board members Franjo Pipini? and Zvonko Kuntari? "recognized comrade Š?ulac for his proper position and for intervening on behalf of innocent people. It was concluded that the city council, which knew its people the best, should energetically involve itself in resolving their situation and ensure that they return to their homes."[35]
On 13 October 1945, the department for public order and security of the District NO of Slavonski Brod explained its decision to release Agneza (b. 1882) and her daughter Jelena "Jelka" (b. 1909) Kurtnaker from the Krndija camp. The two women from Požega, who had been interned because they "belonged to the German ethnic group," were found to "have not been members of the Kulturbund," nor did "they commit any offense against the National Liberation Movement."[36] They were released from Krndija the following day, on 14 October.[37] Jelena "Jelka" Kurtnaker, who considered herself a Croat, later testified that "she only heard Croatian being spoken" in the part of the Krndija camp where she was located.[38] Moreover, Josip Brandis, a member of the National Police and a guard at Krndija from September 1945 until May 1946, also recalled that "[m]ost of the prisoners spoke Croatian. I did not hear them speak any German."[39] However, according to the statements of former prisoner Franjo Kifer from Treštanovci near Požega, "German was spoken more often than Croatian in the camp."[40] Since the camp inmates were separated into groups in Krndija, it is clear that in some parts of the camp there were individuals, especially the elderly and children, from "pure" German settlements who spoke Croatian poorly or did not know it at all.
In the internment camps, including Krndija, alongside a significant number of "Croatianized" Germans, there were some individuals and families of Hungarian, Ruthene, Czech, Slovak, and Jewish background who either felt or declared themselves as Germans, or else their last names sounded German. That was the case of the Kurtnaker family from Požega, ethnic Hungarians who had identified and considered themselves to be Croats.[41] There are examples of Germanized ethnic Hungarians in Krndija as well, with last names such as Batjani from Drenovci (near Županja),[42] Tot from ?akovo,[43] and Ihas(z) from Županja.[44] Ethnic Ruthenes (Hadaš and Hanželik from Rajevo Selo near Županja),[45] as well as Czechs/Slovaks (Franz and Katharina Duhatschek from Ila?a near Šid)[46] were among those in Krndija. Interned Jews included Leopold Cider from Požega,[47] and Kristina Platner, Ana and Josip Švager, and Helena Tachtler née Rosa, all from Drenovci near Županja.[48] These were all Jews who had either been Croatianized, or had married Germans.
Sources on the number and names
of victims in Krndija
The names of the deceased in the Krndija camp were originally noted in the parish office in Punitovci, based upon information received from the inmates themselves.[49] However, the list of names is incomplete, because the parish leaders allegedly prohibited the listing and noting of those who died in Krndija.[50] Some who perished in the Krndija camp were written into the Punitovci parish register of the deceased on behalf of their relatives, while others were entered later when the register was taken from the Church and held in the municipal offices in Punitovci.[51]
Even at the very early stages when Krndija functioned as a transit camp for Volksdeutsche being transferred from the camp in Velika Pisanica to the camp in Valpovo, the names of those who died in Krndija, due to the lack of medicine and doctors, were recorded by the authorities. According to Adam Albrecht from Osijek,[52] on 18 August 1945 his four year old sister died in Krndija, which was confirmed by the recollections of Nikola Mak, also from Osijek.[53]
The register of the deceased for Krndija identifies fifty-eight people by name, mostly elderly individuals, women, and children.[54] Shortly after the camp's establishment in the summer of 1945, the register noted that twelve people (four men, eight women) died in August, thirty-four died in September (eleven men, twenty-three women), and eleven in October (seven men, four women). The first entry for 1945 was 25 August, while the last entry for that year was 8 October. The final entry in the register is on 30 January 1946, when the death of a single woman is noted. The register recorded the deaths of thirteen children (between the ages of fourteen days to fourteen years), seven adults (between the ages of twenty and sixty years), and thirty-two individuals over the age of sixty, as well as six people of unknown age.[55]
Individuals who died in Krndija in 1945 and 1946 were entered into the registers of the deceased of the specific parishes where they were from, but only when there was someone available to announce their deaths, and usually long after the fact. For example, in early April 1946, based on information sent from the Krndija camp headquarters on 1 March 1946 (numbers 566 and 569), the register of the deceased in the ?akovo parish office noted the deaths of only two individuals, the previously mentioned Ana and Stjepan Antes from Satnica ?akova?ka. Ana died on 23 February 1946 and was buried in the Krndija cemetery the following day, while her father Stjepan died shortly afterwards on 27 February, and was buried the same day.[56]
An official list of deceased camp inmates (those who died or were killed) in Krndija during 1945 and 1946 was certainly kept at one time. Namely, the verification certificates of an inmate's death, issued by the Krndija camp headquarters upon the request of that person's relatives, must have been based on information that was meticulously recorded. However, the location of the official list of victims in Krndija is currently unknown and unavailable.
Prisoner Adolf Tachtler from Drenovci noted, along with the comment "they died in the camp" (Diese sind im Lager gestorben), the death of twenty (in fact nineteen) inmates in the Krndija camp, but without including the date of death or other information (such as the age, birthplace, or residence of the inmates). Other than one person (last name of Petö), who is listed twice and whose gender is not clear due to the illegibility of the first name in the document, nine women and nine men died in Krndija.[57] This small, yet valuable list of people who died in Krndija is a vital source of information on death in the camp, as seven of the victims are confirmed by other sources, while twelve individuals are listed only in Tachtler's notes.
Important and indispensable data about the Krndija camp in 1945 and 1946 (both greater and smaller overviews and claims about the camp) can be found in the numerous Danube Swabian "home books" (Heimatbücher),[58] some of which include lists of those who died in Krndija.[59] Although these were based mostly on eyewitness accounts, testimonies, and claims by former inmates, the information they provide are hard to disprove.
The material published by the German Red Cross (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz) provides additional important facts about Krndija, as well as about other camps (both civilian and military) for Germans in Eastern and Southeastern Europe after World War Two.[60] Based on the incomplete and unverified figures cited in the missing persons lists compiled by the German Red Cross in 1962 and 1963, the fate of twelve individuals (six women and six men) who had been interned in Krndija was unknown.[61] However, the death of seven of those individuals was confirmed through other sources.
Of the Danube Swabian "home letters" (Heimatbrief or Rundbrief) of the Local Homeland Society (HOG), information on deaths in Krndija can only be found in the Rundbrief for Tomašanci, Gorjani, and Ivanovci from 2002, which has information about casualties from the village of Gorjani, confirming the names of victims listed in other sources.[62]
Certain archival publications and published testimonies provide additional names of those who died in Krndija, such as the collected volume Dokumentation der Vertreibung der Deutschen aus Ost-Mittleuropa, Volume V of Das Schicksal der Deutschen in Jugoslawien,[63] and Volume II of Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien.[64] These editions include some published testimonies and descriptions of Krndija, which are mostly located in the federal archive (Bundesarchiv) in Koblenz, as well as the names of some of those who died in the camp.
Volume IV of Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien provides the most complete list of victims (101 individuals) who died in Krndija in 1945 and 1946, [65] and estimates that the total number of victims could be as high as 300.[66] These statistics from 1994 were supplemented in Volume III of the same collection, published in 1995, which notes the death of four other individuals (one woman and three men) in Krndija.[67] The information on the victims in the Krndija camp cited in Volume IV and the supplement to Volume III of Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien are also available on the internet.[68] Incomplete information on twenty-five other Krndija victims, from Hrastovac, Velika Mlinska, Bastaji, Sokolovac near Daruvar, Daruvar, and Kakinac near Bjelovar can also be found on the internet.[69]
Volume IV of Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien does not indicate the exact place of death for many of the victims, mentioning only "unknown camp" (Lager unbekannt). Out of the victims listed in this volume, at least twenty-seven (Anna and Georg Frudinger, and Eva Grünwald from Bastaji; Georg and Magdalena Scherer, and Agathe Stiegler from Gorjani; Terezija Rickert from Ivankovo; Franz Kiefer from Kešinci; Mathias Gäntner, Christian and Maria Hahn, Peter and Theresia Halter, Anna Hirschenberger, Klara Kuhner, Rosalia Kulovic, Franz and Peter Molnar, Anton and Maria Orusanski, and Anton and Marianne Seiler, all from Mrzovi?; Martin Gauder, Jakob Kopp, and Adam Wellenreither from Privlaka; and Veronika Ruppaner and Magdalena Utri from Retkovci) most likely died in Krndija, based on other sources.[70] Additionally, some victims listed in this volume are claimed to have died in camps other than Krndija, contradicting evidence elsewhere. For example, Franz "Franjo" Ries from Vinkovci[71] is alleged to have died in Josipovac, while Ana, Josef, and Susana Martin from Jarmina are listed as dying in Valpovo.[72]
More recent overviews of the research to date and information about the fate of Germans in communist Yugoslavia have brought to light different claims and estimates. The publication Verbrechen an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien, 1944–1948, estimates that about 3,000 people were interned in Krndija from 1945 to 1946, and between 500 and 1,500 died from starvation, dysentery, and typhus fever.[73] The English-language Genocide of the Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia, 1944–1948,[74] and Genocid nad nema?kom manjinom u Jugoslaviji, 1944–1948[75] also give the figure of approximately 3,000 inmates and at least 500 dead (but probably more), from the same causes listed above.
There is no information or mention of victims from the Krndija camp in the archive of the Saint Ladislav parish in Punitovci.[76] The names of some victims, however, are known from claims and testimonies of friends and relatives of those victims. As the names are not listed in other sources, this can be considered important information.
The names of some Krndija victims (individuals who were officially declared dead) were occasionally published in Narodne Novine, the official publication of the People's Republic of Croatia, up until the present.[77] For example, one person mentioned in Narodne Novine in 1946 as having died in Krndija is not listed anywhere else.[78]
Some books about victims (žrtvoslov) published in Croatia provide valuable information on the victims in the Krndija camp, especially those from ?akovo and its surroundings,[79] the Cvelferija parish,[80] and Novska.[81] The rest of these books, of which there are many for various towns and regions across Croatia, are Croatcentric and other ethnic groups, including Germans, with only a few exceptions are in practice never mentioned.
Several lists of camp inmates, mostly unpublished and researched by individuals from those specific towns and regions with former German minorities, have played an important role in compiling data about the victims in the Krndija camp. The following people have collected invaluable information on this subject: Stefan Schwob (Dietenheim, Ulm, Germany) for Mrzovi? near ?akovo;[82] Rosa Selinsek-Mutlitz (Mainz, Germany) for Satnica ?akova?ka, Tomašanci, Gorjani, and Viškovci near ?akovo;[83] Tomo Šali? for ?ur?anci near ?akovo[84]; Magdalena Märzluft (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States),[85] Waldraut Schlegel (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States),[86] and Rosina T. Schmidt (Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada) for Hrastovac near Daruvar;[87] Katharina Ferber (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada) and Rosina T. Schmidt for Velika Mlinska near Garešnica;[88] Mirko Herschak (Wiesental, Germany) for Rajevo Selo near Županja;[89] and Terezija Letini? Ciglene?ki (Požega),[90] Tomislav Wittenberg (Požega),[91] and Vladimir Geiger (Zagreb)[92] for Požega and surroundings. The mentioned facts confirm and supplement the previously obtained information and understanding of the victims in Krndija.
The documentation and data of the discontinued "Commission for the Establishment of War and Postwar Victims in the Republic of Croatia" is not currently accessible, and it is uncertain how many victims from the Krndija camp were included in the commission's work. The research project "Victims of World War Two, the Postwar Period, and the Homeland War" conducted by the Croatian State Archive and the Croatian Institute for History is seeking to identify all of the victims of war by name, but has not yet produced any new information regarding the victims of Krndija from 1945 and 1946 (except for the individuals already mentioned in Volume IV of Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien).
Currently it is known that seven obituaries, all privately owned by relatives of Krndija victims, are preserved; one is from September 1945, while the rest are from 1946 (two from January, three from February, and one from March). These obituaries provide birth dates of the victims (1874, 1876, 1879, 1893, 1906, and 1909) and their gender (three women and four men).
Death certificates of camp inmates are important sources in completing the book of victims for Krndija. Namely, some victims of Krndija are listed in the literature as having died in other camps, which confirms their deaths but inaccurately records where they died. For example, Josip and Ana Burg from Vrbanja, near Županja, died in Krndija in early February 1946 from typhus fever, but until a confirmation of their death was found in the headquarters of the Krndija camp, they had been listed as having died in the Zve?evo camp.[93]
The death certificates issued by the Krndija camp headquarters, signed by camp director Ivan Tomljenovi? and his successor Milan Komlenovi?, are a valuable source and provide many important details. Along with the first and last name, age, birth place, and residence of each deceased inmate, these documents include the date of death, occasionally the cause of death, and the date and place of burial (the camp section Krndija's cemetery). As far as it is known, based upon witness testimonies, death certificates were issued by the camp authorities only when requested by relatives of the deceased inmates. Thus, for the majority of victims in Krndija, a death certificate was never issued. Since these certificates were kept exclusively by the families of those interned in Krndija, most of whom later moved to Germany, this kind of document is generally unavailable.
List of names of the Krndija camp victims,
In the historiography and various primary sources mentioned above, from memoirs to witness testimonies, there are various claims, allegations, estimates, and specific details about the Krndija camp in 1945 and 1946, especially about its activities and conditions, as well as the number of inmates and victims. The list of Krndija camp victims by name, based on many and various sources, is unfortunately incomplete and imperfect, but it is the only one so far organized in this way. According to the available figures and sources, a total of 338 individuals died in Krndija between 1945 and 1946, of which 152 were men, 183 were women, while the gender of three deceased inmates remains unknown.
The age of 204 of the victims has been determined, which includes nineteen children and young adults under the age of fourteen (ten girls and nine boys). Three of them were infants less than a year old (two girls, one boy), including one that was born in the camp. Ten of the children were six years old or younger; four boys (two of them two years old, one age three, and one age five) and six girls (three were one year old, two were four years old, and one was six years old). The largest group of victims, 116 individuals (sixty-seven women and forty-nine men), were of working age (between the ages of fifteen and sixty-four), including thirty-six women of childbearing age (between the ages of fifteen and forty-nine). Finally, there were seventy-one victims (thirty-one women and forty men) who were older than sixty-five.
In Krndija the death of women, children, and the elderly was particularly tragic, and the fate of women with children is especially illustrative of this fact. For example, Katharina Helmlinger was born on 8 December 1945 to Josef and Katharine Helmlinger née Ebling, from Vu?evci near ?akovo. Not long after she was born, her mother Katharine died, on 31 January 1946.[94] During 1945, Eva Kehl née Faust and her young daughter Anna, from Hrastovac near Daruvar, both died in the camp.[95] Because of horrible conditions, especially the lack of food, six-month old Anton Holterer from Stari Mikanovci near Vinkovci died shortly after arriving in the camp.[96] The death of children was described by Jelena "Jelka" Kurtnaker in her written recollections, in the story "Camp Notes" about the death of two girls, and in the story "Unnamed," about the death of a newborn girl.[97]
At a time when Germans and their children were dying in Yugoslav camps from hunger and various diseases (especially typhus fever), the regime enacted the first communist Yugoslav constitution on 31 January 1946, which emphasized social care for mothers and children. Notably, Article 24 declared that "[t]he state naturally protects the interests of mothers and their children," while Article 26 asserted how "underage individuals are especially protected by the state."[98]
The birthdates of the oldest of the camp's victims are as follows: 1859 (one woman), 1860 (one woman, two men), 1861 (one man), 1863 (one woman, two men), 1865 (three women, two men), 1866 (one man), 1867 (two women, one man), 1868 (two men), 1869 (two women, two men), 1870 (one woman, three men), 1871 (four women, one man), 1872 (five women, one man), 1873 (one woman, three men), 1874 (one woman, two men), 1875 (four men), 1876 (four women, three men), 1877 (one woman, three men), 1878 (two men), 1879 (three women, two men), and 1880 (one woman, three men). The oldest victims in Krndija, that is, those over the age of eighty, were: Katharina Schadt (1859) from Vinkova?ko Novo Selo, Barbara Riss (1860) from Gunja near Županja, Leopold Reif (1860) whose birthplace is unknown, Ljudevit Griesbach (1860) from Zagreb, Batjani (a man whose first name is unknown) (1861) from Drenovci near Županja, Julijana Hengel (1863) from Vinkovci, Ivan Koller (1863) from Vinkovci, Ludvig Zveng (1863) from Staniši? near Sombor, Liza Michel (1865) from Drenovci near Županja, Marija Wildinger (1865) from Bijeljina, Paula Winkler (1865) from ?akovo, and Ivan Bohner (1865) from Vrbica near ?akovo.
For 111 victims in Krndija, the date of death is unknown, while 118 individuals died between the founding of the camp in August 1945 and the end of the year, and another 109 died during 1946, that is, until the camp was disbanded in May 1946. For a significant number of victims (119 individuals), the exact time of death, more or less, is known. According to that information, in 1945 thirteen inmates died in August, thirty-five in September, nineteen in October, and seven in December. In 1946, eleven inmates died in January, twenty-one in February, nine in March, two in April, one in May, and one in July due to the consequences of camp conditions.
According to various sources and claims, at least fifteen people were killed in the Krndija camp: Karl Mich(e)l, a fourteen-year old from Vinkova?ko Novo Selo (on 24 September 1945); Rosa Zimmermann, a nineteen-year old (on 4 October 1945); Adam Herge(r)t (Hergöd), a forty-year old from Vinkova?ko Novo Selo (on 11 October 1945); Johann Sutter, age unknown, from Vinkova?ko Novo Selo (on 11 October 1945); Theresija Osvald, age unknown (in October 1945); Petar Kleisinger, his wife (ages of both unknown), and their twenty-one year old son from Tominovac near Požega (in the winter of 1945); Rosalia Lohner, from Vinkovci (on the night of 23/24 December 1945); Adam Schmidt (Šmit), a youth of unknown age from ?akovo (on the night of 23/24 December 1945); Ivan (Hans, Hansi) Alich, a thrity-six year-old from Bresta?a near Novska (on 2 January 1946); Karl Bader, a fifteen year-old from Vinkova?ko Novo Selo (on 3 January 1946); Franz Koch, a twenty-one year-old from Krndija (in 1946); Josip Petters, a fifty year-old from Piljenice near Novska (in 1946), and, during an escape attempt, Anna Birkenbach, a young woman whose exact age is unknown from Mlinska near Garešnica (at the end of 1945 or early 1946). There are also some signs that there were suicides among the inmates. Based on the statements of former inmate Lorenz Gratz from Tomašanci near ?akovo, a prisoner from Vo?inci near Vinkovci killed himself.[99] Allegedly Marika Pilli and Petar Šulc, both from ?ur?anci near ?akovo, also committed suicide while interned in Krndija.[100]
Most of the victims in the Krndija camp were from Slavonia and Syrmia, although they also came from other parts of Croatia, particularly central Croatia, Baranja, and western Croatia, as well as the Posavina region in Bosnia and Ba?ka in Vojvodina (Serbia), while the origin of twenty-nine individuals is unknown. The Krndija victims came from ?akovo (24), Vinkovci (22), Ciglenik near Požega (20), Mrzovi? near ?akovo (18), Jarmina near Vinkovci (16), Drenovci near Županja (14), Vinkova?ko Novo Selo near Vinkovci (13), Tomašanci near ?akovo (12), Mlinska near Garešnica (11), Ceri? near Vinkovci (10), Hrastovac near Daruvar (9), Gorjani near ?akovo (8), Požega (8), Ila?a near Tovarnik (7), Drenje near ?akovo (6), Vu?evci near ?akovo (6), Rajevo Selo near Županja (5), Bresta?a near Novska (4), Osijek (4), Semeljci near ?akovo (4), Velika Kopanica near ?akovo (4), Antunovac near Pakrac (3), Bastaji near Daruvar (3), Satnica ?akova?ka near ?akovo (3), Kešinaci near ?akovo (3), Privlaka near Vinkovci (3), Tominovac near Požega (3), Treštanovci near Požega (3), Viškovci near ?akovo (3), Vukovar (2), Bjeljina (2), Br?ko (2), ?ur?anci near ?akovo (2), Gunja near Županja (2), Krndija near ?akovo (2), Podgajci near Županja (2), Retkovci near Vinkovaci (2), Slatina (2), Slavonski Brod (2), Sokolovac near Daruvar (2), Staniši? near Sombor (2), Vrbanja near Županja (2), Vrbica near ?akovo (2), Županja (2), Bjelovar (1), Bošnjaci near Županja (1), Budainka near Slavonski Brod (1), Budrovci near ?akovo (1), Cerna near Županja (1), Daruvar (1), Forkuševci near ?akovo (1), Ivankovo near Vinkovci (1), Kakinac near Bjelovar (1), Kravice near Osijek (1), Kruševlje near Sombor (1), Nova Pazova (1), Piljenice near Novska (1), Popovac near Batina (1), Potnjani near ?akovo (1), Pridvorje near ?akovo (1), Ra?inovci near Županja (1), Resnik near Požega (1), Ri?ica near Sombor (1), Sisak (1), Slavonski Šamac (1), Soljani near Županja (1), Stari Mikanovci near Vinkovci (1), Sušak (1), Šibovska near Prnjavor (1), Špiši? Bukovica near Virovitica (1), Štitar near Županja (1), Velimirovac near Našice (1), Virovitica (1), and Zagreb (1).
Five men and two women who are mentioned in the literature as possible victims in Krndija (Johan Bajer, Elizabeta Hadas, Josip Hanželik, and Franjo Najberger from Rajevo Selo,[101] and the married couple Batjani and Filip Hohman from Drenovci[102]), are known to have been taken to Krndija in either 1945 or 1946, and since their exact fate is unclear, it can be assumed that they died in the camp. For some individuals, there exists various, contradictory, and sometimes confusing information about the moment of death in Krndija. For example, in the "home book" from Tomašanci, villager Jakob Bischof is listed as having died in Krndija on 7 January 1945/1947, but in Volume IV of Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, published at a later time, the time of death is given as only 1946.[103] According to statements made by Rosa Selinsek-Mutlitz, he died on 7 January 1945 in Krndija, which is clearly impossible because the camp did not exist at that time.[104] Another example is the case of Martin Hubert from Gorjani, who is listed with different birth dates (1879, 1883, and 1884) in different sources, different dates for his death (1946 and 1948), and different places where he died ("unknown camp," "Krndija," and "Rudofsgnad").[105] Magdalena and Georg Scherer from Gorjani are recorded as having died in different locations and under various conditions, such as "unknown camp," "in a Yugoslav camp or killed after being expelled," "Velika Pisanica," and "Krndija").[106] Similar contradictory accounts exist for Agatha Stiegler, also from Gorjani.[107] At least two people, Anna Kah and Kristina Ochsenhoffer (both from Hrastovac), died shortly after being released from Krndija in 1945 or 1946.[108] Although the Danube Swabian literature lists them as victims of the Krndija camp, at least two men, Josef Ament (b. 1883) and Paul Haas (b. 1891) from Tomašanci, died in Krndija in 1948 while doing forced labor.[109] Antun and Ana Verhas from ?akovo are also buried in the cemetery in Krndija (in separate graves marked with crosses and their names), and although they were inmates in the camp in 1945 and 1946, they died much later in Krndija where they were working.[110]
Presently, in the camp section of the cemetery in Krndija there are only about fifty preserved and marked graves of camp inmates (either buried individually or in groups), of which thirty-five have the names of those buried in the graves (thirty-nine individuals) still visible. On 1 November 1997, the first commemoration for the victims of the camp was held in Krndija. In the camp section of the cemetery, a monument to the victims from 1945–1946 was unveiled on 7 October 1999.[111] Since the raising of the monument to the victims of Krndija, the camp cemetery in Krndija has been maintained by members of the ?akovo branch of the German National Community and Country Organization of Danube Swabians in Croatia.
[1] See Verbrechen an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien 1944–1948. Die Stationen eines Völkermords (Munich, 1998), pp. 4, 290; Genocide of the Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia 1944 –1948 (Munich, 2003), p. 155; Genocid nad nema?kom manjinom u Jugoslaviji 1944–1948 (Belgrade, 2004), p. 196; Vladimir Geiger, "Logori za folksdoj?ere u Hrvatskoj nakon Drugog svjetskog rata 1945–1947," in ?asopis za suvremenu povijest, vol. 38, no. 3 (Zagreb, 2006), p. 1085, as well as the sources cited therein.
[2] See Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV, Menschenverluste – Namen und Zahlen zu Verbrechen an den Deutschen durch das Tito – Regime in der Zeit von 1944–1948 (Munich-Sindelfingen, 1994).
[3] Ekkehard Völkl, "Abrechnungsfuror in Kroatien," in Klaus Dietmar Henke and Hans Woller (eds.), Politische Säuberung in Europa. Die Abrechnung mit Faschismus und Kolaboration nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg (Munich, 1991), p. 378.
[4] See Verbrechen an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien 1944–1948. Die Stationen eines Völkermords, pp. 219–228; Genocide of the Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia 1944 –1948, pp. 121–127; Genocid nad nema?kom manjinom u Jugoslaviji 1944 –1948, pp. 152–162; V. Geiger, "Logori za folksdoj?ere u Hrvatskoj nakon Drugog svjetskog rata 1945–1947," pp. 1081–1100, as well as the sources cited therein.
[5] See Vladimir Geiger, "Epidemija tifusa u logorima za folksdoj?ere u Slavoniji 1945./46. i posljedice," in ?asopis za suvremenu povijest, vol. 39, no. 2 (Zagreb, 2007), pp. 367–383.
[6] See Verbrechen an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien 1944–1948. Die Station eines Völkermords, pp. 219–223; Genocide of the Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia 1944–1948, pp. 124–126; Genocid nad nema?kom manjinom u Jugoslaviji 1944–1948, pp. 157–159; V. Geiger, "Logori za folksdoj?ere u Hrvatskoj nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata 1945–1947," pp. 1095–1096, as well as the sources cited therein.
[7] Leopold Rohrbacher, Ein Volk ausgelöscht. Die Ausrottung des Donauschwabentums in Jugoslawien in den Jahren von 1944 bis 1948 (Salzburg, 1949), p. 200.; Völkermord der Tito-Partisanen 1944–1948. Die Vernichtung der altösterreichischen Deutschen Volksgruppe in Jugoslawien und die Massaker an Kroaten und Slowenen. Dokumentation (Graz, 1991), p. 193; Verbrechen an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien 1944–1948. Die Stationen eines Völkermords, p. 219; Genocide of the Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia 1944–1948, p. 125; Genocid nad nema?kom manjinom u Jugoslaviji 1944–1948, str. 157, as well as the sources cited therein.
[8] State Archive of Slavonski Brod (DASB), Okružni narodni odbor Slavonski Brod 10/15, Op?i spisi po ur. zapisniku 6/14666 from 1945, Inv. no. 46; Zdravko Dizdar, Vladimir Geiger, Milan Poji?, and Mate Rupi? (eds.), Partizanska i komunisti?ka represija i zlo?ini u Hrvatskoj 1944 –1946. Dokumenti (Slavonski Brod, 2005), p. 265; Vladimir Geiger (ed.), Partizanska i komunisti?ka represija i zlo?ini u Hrvatskoj 1944–1946. Dokumenti. Slavonija, Srijem i Baranja (Slavonski Brod, 2006), p. 437.
[9] Croatian State Archive (HDA), Zagreb, CK SKH, Vojna komisija, box 134; Z. Dizdar, V. Geiger, M. Poji?, M. Rupi? (eds.), Partizanska i komunisti?ka represija i zlo?ini u Hrvatskoj 1944 –1946. Dokumenti, p. 292; V. Geiger (ed.), Partizanska i komunisti?ka represija i zlo?ini u Hrvatskoj 1944–1946. Dokumenti. Slavonija, Srijem i Baranja, p. 490; Vladimir Geiger, "Struktura stradalih u logoru Krndija 1945–1946," in Godišnjak Njema?ke narodnosne zajednice/VDG Jahrbuch 2004 (Osijek, 2004), p. 255.
[10] DASB, Okružni narodni odbor Slavonski Brod 10/15, Op?i spisi po ur. zapisniku, nos. 1680, 2042, 5015/5458, 1946, Inv. no. 48, Request form for March 1946.
[11] Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV, p. 972.
[12] Mate Šimundi?, Hrvatski smrtni put: Prilog novijoj hrvatskoj poviesti (Split, 2001), p. 440.; Genocide of the Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia 1944–1948, p. 125; Genocid nad nema?kom manjinom u Jugoslaviji 1944 –1948, p. 157.
[13] Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band III, Erschießungen – Vernichtungslager – Kinderschicksale in der Zeit von 1944–1948 (Munich – Sindelfingen, 1995), p. 888.; Verbrechen an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien 1944–1948. Die Stationen eines Völkermords, p. 219; Logori smrti u komunisti?koj Jugoslaviji 1944–1948. Exhibit, German ethnic community – Country association of Danube Swabians in Croatia Osijek/Volksdeutsche Gemeinschaft Landsmannschaft der Donauschwaben in Kroatien Essegg, in cooperation with the Work Community of Danube Swabians of Austria in Vienna and the Austrian Culture Institute in Zagreb, Museum of Slavonia, Osijek, from 11–25 June 1999; Peter Wassertheurer, Die AVNOJ-Bestimmungen und der Völkermord an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien 1944–1948 (Vienna), p. 7.
[14] L. Rohrbacher, Ein Volk ausgelöscht. Die Ausrottung des Donauschwabentums in Jugoslawien in den Jahren von 1944 bis 1948, p. 200; Völkermord der Tito-Partisanen 1944–1948. Die Vernichtung der altösterreichischen Deutschen Volksgruppe in Jugoslawien und die Massaker an Kroaten und Slowenen. Dokumentation, p. 193.
[15] For example, see Stefan Sehl (ed.), Unvergessene Heimat der Donauschwaben. Großgemeinde Drenje, Slatinik – Manditschevac – Pridvorje in Slawonien (Reutlingen, 1994), p. 386.
[16] Federal Archive in Koblenz (BA Koblenz), Ost-Dok. 2; Dokumentation der Vertreibung der Deutschen aus Ost-Mitteleuropa, Band V, Das Schicksal der Deutschen in Jugoslawien (Düseldorf, 1961; Munich, 1984; Augsburg, 1994; Munich, 2004), pp. 531–532.; Gegen das Vergessen. Die Grosse Flucht. Umsiedlung, Vertreibung und Integration der deutschen Bevölkerung (Munich, 2003) [DVD]; Vladimir Geiger and Ivan Jurkovi? (eds.), Pisma iz Krndije (Zagreb, 1993), p. 120, from the chapter "Izvještaj/svjedo?anstvo Petera Seilera iz Vinkovaca."
[17] L. Rohrbacher, Ein Volk ausgelöscht. Die Ausrottung des Donauschwabentums in Jugoslawien in den Jahren von 1944 bis 1948, p. 200; Völkermord der Tito-Partisanen 1944–1948. Die Vernichtung der altösterreichischen Deutschen Volksgruppe in Jugoslawien und die Massaker an Kroaten und Slowenen. Dokumentation, str. 193; Vladimir Geiger, Nijemci u ?akovu i ?akovštini (Zagreb, 2001), p. 177.
[18] Original in private collection of Dr. Ivan Kirhmajer, ?akovo.
[19] Vladimir Geiger, "Logor Krndija (1945–1946). Izvori i literatura," in Dijalog povjesni?ara – istori?ara, vol. 7, (Zagreb, 2003), p. 477; V. Geiger, "Struktura stradalih u logoru Krndija 1945–1946," p. 249.
[20] See BA Koblenz, Ost-Dok. 2; Dokumentation der Vertreibung der Deutschen aus Ost-Mitteleuropa, Band V, pp. 533–534; Gegen das Vergessen. Die Grosse Flucht. Umsiedlung, Vertreibung und Integration der deutschen Bevölkerung (Munich, 2003) [DVD].
[21] HDA, Zagreb, Predsjedništvo Vlade, Konzularni odjel, Predmetni spisi (Spisi raznih konzulata), box 398.
[22] Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Justice, administration and self-management, Administration for the Prison System, central office, Class: 053-01/02-01/283, Urbroj: 514-08-01-03-4, Zagreb, 21 January 2003, Subject: access and use of documentation from 1945 and 1946, correspondence with the director, Josip Hehet, Croatian Institute for History, Zagreb.
[23] HDA, Zagreb, ZKRZ, GUZ, 4218/45, box 67 and 4461/45, box 68, as well as 4565/45. See Vladimir Geiger, "Folksdoj?eri u izvješ?ima komisija za utvr?ivanje zlo?ina okupatora i njihovih pomaga?a Okruga Slavonski Brod, 1945. godine," in Scrinia slavonica, vol. 6 (Slavonski Brod, 2006), pp. 661, 663, 666, 667, 669, 671, 673, 674, 676, 679, 683, 686, 687, 689, 690, 692, 694, 698, 699, 700–702, 703, 705, 708, 711, 712, 718, 721, 723, 726, 729, 733, and 736.
[24] HDA, Zagreb, ZKRZ, GUZ, 4461/45, box 68. See also V. Geiger, "Folksdoj?eri u izvješ?ima komisija za utvr?ivanje zlo?ina okupatora i njihovih pomaga?a Okruga Slavonski Brod, 1945. godine," p. 729.
[25] HDA, Zagreb, ZKRZ, GUZ, 4218/45, box 67. See V. Geiger, "Folksdoj?eri u izvješ?ima komisija za utvr?ivanje zlo?ina okupatora i njihovih pomaga?a Okruga Slavonski Brod, 1945. godine," p. 663.
[26] Ivan Supek, "Hrvatska encyklopaedia moderna," in Nacional (Zagreb), 21 April 1999, p. 22; Ivan Supek, "Put u ?akovo, ?akova?ki vezovi," in Prigodna revija (?akovo, 2000), pp. 66–67; Ivan Supek, Na prekretnici milenija (Zagreb, 2001), p. 176–178, chapter "Put u ?akovo."
[29] M. Šimundi?, Hrvatski smrtni put, p. 440.
[30] V. Geiger, I. Jurkovi? (eds.), Pisma iz Krndije, p. 68.
[31] Parish office for ?akovo, Register of the deceased for ?akovo, volume 1a 1945–1947, p. 43.
[32] DASB, Okružni narodni odbor Slavonski Brod 10/15, Op?i spisi po ur. zapisniku 6/14666 from 1945, Inv. no. 46.
[33] Tomo Šali?, "?ur?anci u prostoru i vremenu," in Tomo Šali? and Adam Pavi?, ?ur?anci kod ?akova (?akovo, 2006), p. 88.
[34] DAO Archival collection center (ASC) Vinkovci, Kotarski narodni odbor Vinkovci, 1946, 77/46. Pov.
[35] DASB, Okružni NO Slavonski Brod 10/15, Op?i spisi po ur. zapisniku br. 14670/29752 and circular with the number 1674/31557, 1945, Inv. no. 47; V. Geiger (ed.), Partizanska i komunisti?ka represija i zlo?ini u Hrvatskoj 1944. – 1946. Dokumenti. Slavonija, Srijem i Baranja, p. 452–453.
[36] Vladimir Geiger, "Nijemci Požege i Požeške kotline 1945–1946: dokumenti i sje?anja/iskazi," in Scrinia slavonica, vol. 4 (Slavonski Brod, 2004), pp. 468–469.
[37] V. Geiger, "Nijemci Požege i Požeške kotline 1945–1946: dokumenti i sje?anja/iskazi," pp. 469–470.
[38] Interview with Jelena "Jelka" Kurtnaker in Požega, 27 June 2002, by V. Geiger. See V. Geiger, "Nijemci Požege i Požeške kotline 1945–1946: dokumenti i sje?anja/iskazi," p. 473.
[39] Interview with Josip Brandis in Josipovac Punitova?ki, 12 August 2003, by V. Geiger.
[40] Interview with Franjo Kifer in Jakši?, Požega, 26 June 2002, by V. Geiger; V. Geiger, "Nijemci Požege i Požeške kotline 1945–1946: dokumenti i sje?anja/iskazi," p. 479; Tomislav Wittenberg, "Drugi svjetski rat i egzodus Nijemaca i Austrijanaca iz Požeške doline," in Godišnjak Njema?ke narodnosne zajednice/VDG Jahrbuch 2004 (Osijek, 2004), p. 317.
[42] Marko ?idara, "Popis drenova?kih stradalnika u Drugom svjetskom ratu," in Hraš?e, no. 1 (Drenovci, 1996), p. 38; Ivica ?osi? – Bukvin (ed.), "Pripadnici njema?ke narodnosne skupine (folksdoj?eri) poginuli, nestali, umrli za vrijeme Drugoga svjetskoga rata i pora?a iz 9 cvelferijskih sela, Putuju?i Slavonijom," in Godišnjak za povijest, kulturu, pouku i razonodu, no. 22 (Vinkovci, 2004), p. 55; Ivan ?osi? – Bukvin, "Pripadnici njema?ke narodnosne skupine (folksdoj?eri) poginuli, umrli i nestali za vrijeme Drugog svjetskoga rata i pora?a iz cvelferijskih sela," in Godišnjak Njema?ke narodnosne zajednice/VDG Jahrbuch 2006 (Osijek, 2006), p. 252.
[43] Correspondence with Marija Urban née Tot (Osijek), 18 September 1998, V. Geiger.
[44] Interview with Ivica Ihas in Zagreb, 2005, by V. Geiger.
[45] Stjepan Bogutovac, "Rajev?ani stradalnici u Drugom svjetskom ratu," in Hraš?e, nos. 9-10 (Drenovci, 1997), p. 105; I. ?osi? – Bukvin (ed.), "Pripadnici njema?ke narodnosne skupine (folksdoj?eri) poginuli, nestali, umrli za vrijeme Drugoga svjetskoga rata i pora?a iz 9 cvelferijskih sela, Putuju?i Slavonijom," in Godišnjak za povijest, kulturu, pouku i razonodu, no. 22 (Vinkovci, 2004), p. 54; I. ?osi? – Bukvin, "Pripadnici njema?ke narodnosne skupine (folksdoj?eri) poginuli, umrli i nestali za vrijeme Drugog svjetskoga rata i pora?a iz cvelferijskih sela," in Godišnjak Njema?ke narodnosne zajednice/VDG Jahrbuch 2006 (Osijek, 2006), p. 250.
[46] Florian Neller, Illatsch(a) (Ilacs, Ila?a). Der syrmische Wallfahrtsort. Das Leben der deutschen Ortsbewohner im Zeitraum von 120 Jahren 1864–1984 (Graz, 1987), p. 302.
[47] V. Geiger, "Nijemci Požege i Požeške kotline 1945–1946.: dokumenti i sje?anja/iskazi," p. 480–482; V. Geiger (ed.), Partizanska i komunisti?ka represija i zlo?ini u Hrvatskoj 1944–1946. Dokumenti. Slavonija, Srijem i Baranja, pp. 450–451.
[48] M. ?idara, "Popis drenova?kih stradalnika u Drugom svjetskom ratu," p. 40
[49] Interview with Andrija Kocur in Josipovac Punitova?ki, 12 August 2003, by V. Geiger.
[50] Interview with Rev. Petar Markovac in ?akovo, 12 August 2003, by V. Geiger.
[52] Correspondence from Adam Albrecht (Munich, Germany), 16 December 1997, to Nikola Mak (Osijek). See Vladimir Geiger (ed.), Radni logor Valpovo 1945. – 1946. Dokumenti (Osijek, 1999), p. 420.
[53] See V.[esna] Kaselj, "Podunavske Švabe na krndijaškom groblju," in ?akova?ki glasnik (?akovo), 6 November 1997, p. 12; Suzana Župan, "Pri?a s jedne komemoracije: Krndija, selo ?ije je njema?ko stanovništvo nakon II. svjetskog rata bilo žrtva tamošnjeg logora, progona i protjerivanja bivšeg politi?kog režima. Žrtveni janjci zablude jednog režima i vremena," in Glas Slavonije (Osijek) 6 November 1997, p. 16; Suzana Župan, "Predugo skrivana žrtva bivšeg režima/Allzulang verborgenes Opfer des Ehemaligen," in Deutsches Wort/Njema?ka rije?, no. 25 (Osijek, 1997), pp. 7, 10; Nikola Mak, "Sje?anja: Krndija 1945. Svije?a za moju Kadi/Erinnerungen: Kerndia 1945. Eine Kerz für meine Kadi," in Deutsches Wort/Njema?ka rije?, no. 25 (Osijek, 1997), pp. 8, 11.
[54] The original (Register of deceased from Krndija 1946–1947) can be found in the Administration Office of the Osje?ko-baranjskoj županiji, Registry office ?akovo.
[55] See V. Geiger, "Logor Krndija (1945–1946). Izvori i literatura," p. 475; Vladimir Geiger, "Struktura stradalih u logoru Krndija 1945–1946," p. 248. For some of these individuals, their age has been confirmed through other sources and accounts.
[56] Parish office Djakovo, Register of deceased for ?akovo, volume 1a 1945–1947, p. 43
[57] Original in possession of Dr. Ivan Kirhmajer, ?akovo.
[58] V. Geiger, "Logor Krndija (1945–1946). Izvori i literatura," pp. 483–484. See Jakob Bentz (ed.), Groß Mlinska. Die Geschichte eines hessischen Dorfes in Kroatien. Die Geschichte der Deutschen von Groß Mlinska mit seiner Verbindung zu den Nachbardörfern Groß und Klein Pašijan und den anderen hessischen Dörfern dieseits und jenseits der Ilowa (Ehringshausen,[1984]); Schidski Banovci. Geschichte einer deutschen Tochtersiedlung in Syrmien, s.l., s.a.; Adolf Kirschig, Kula – Poretsch. Die Deutschen im Poschegaer Kessel (Freilassing, 1962); Stefan Stader, Heimatbuch Satnitz – Djakova?ka Satnica. Eine gemischtprachige Gemeinde in Slawonien/Jugoslawien (Kaiserslautern, 1972); Josef Werni, Konrad Reiber, and Josef Eder, Heimatbuch Tomaschanzi – Gorjani. Zur Erinnerung an unsere einstige Heimat in Slawonien (Ruit bei Stuttgart, 1974); Valentin Oberkersch (ed.), Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Vinkovci und Umgebung (Biberach, 1975); Johann Herzog and Stefan Klemm, Heimatbuch der Donauschwaben aus Jarmina – Jahrmein (Vienna – Bad Wurzbach, 1976); Fritz Hoffmann, Das Schicksal der Bosniendeutschen in 100 Jahren von 1878–1978 (Sersheim, 1982); Florian Neller, Illatsch(a) (Ilacs, Ila?a). Der syrmische Wallfahrtsort. Das Leben der deutschen Ortsbewohner im Zeitraum von 120 Jahren 1864–1984 (Graz, 1987); Matthias Stolz, Krndija Heimatbuch. Slawoniendeutsches Dorf ausgelöscht (Graz, 1987); Johann Possert, Viškovci Heimatbuch. Zur Erinnerung an ein kleines Bauerndorf (Lieboch, 1989); Heinrich Heppenheimer and Anton Kraehling, Klein – Bastei. Heimatbuch eines deutschen Dorfes in Slawonien – Kroatien, Sersheim, 1990.; Hans Schreckeis, Wukowar. Alte Hauptstadt Syrmiens. Die Donauschwaben in Stadt und Umgebung (Salzburg, 1990); Anton Utri and Johann Schnapper, Heimatbuch Semelzi und Keschinzi. Zur Erinnerung an unsere einstigen Heimatdörfer (Graz – Linz, 1992); Karl Schumm, Josef – Zlatko Stürmer, and Michael Jung, Heimatbuch Essegg – Osijek (Sindelfingen, 1993); Stefan Sehl (ed.), Unvergessene Heimat der Donauschwaben. Großgemeinde Drenje, Slatinik – Manditschevac – Pridvorje in Slawonien (Reutlingen, 1994); Wilhelm Andreas Zimmermann, Dorfchronik Wutschewzi 1850–1945 (Grünstadt, 2001); Rosina T. Schmidt, Hrastovac – Eichendorf Families 1865–1900. A Registry of Families of the German Lutheran Mother Church in a Village in Slavonia ([Canada], 2003).
[59] J. Bentz (ed.), Groß Mlinska, p. 7; S. Stader, Heimatbuch Satnitz – Djakova?ka Satnica, p. 83.; J. Werni, K. Reiber, J. Eder, Heimatbuch Tomaschanzi – Gorjani, pp. 141 – 142, 148, 155, 156, 158, 159, 162, 164, 173; V. Oberkersch (ed.), Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Vinkovci und Umgebung, pp. 75 – 76, 151, 190 – 191, 216, 248; J. Herzog, S. Klemm, Heimatbuch der Donauschwaben aus Jarmina – Jahrmein, p. 11.; F. Neller, Illatsch(a) (Ilacs, Ila?a), p. 302.; M. Stolz, Krndija Heimatbuch, p. 17; J. Possert, Viškovci Heimatbuch, p. 9; H. Heppenheimer, A. Kraehling, Klein – Bastei, p. 228; H. Schreckeis, Wukowar, pp. 296, 300; A. Utri, J. Schnapper, Heimatbuch Semelzi und Keschinzi, p. 44, 235; K. Schumm, J. – Z. Stürmer, M. Jung, Heimatbuch Essegg – Osijek, p. 32; S. Sehl (ed.), Unvergessene Heimat der Donauschwaben. Großgemeinde Drenje, Slatinik – Manditschevac – Pridvorje in Slawonien, p. 386; W. A. Zimmermann, Dorfchronik Wutschewzi 1850 – 1945, pp. 141, 413, 416, 417, 428, 431, 446, 458, 463, 464; R. T. Schmidt, Hrastovac – Eichendorf Families 1865 – 1900, pp. 140, 179, 334, 466, 484, 584.
[60] V. Geiger, "Logor Krndija (1945–1946). Izvori i literatura," p. 484. See Deutsches Rotes Kreuz. Suchdienst. Zivilverschollenenliste. Skizzenblätter mit Angabe der Festnahmeorte und Gewahrsame sowie mit geographischer Darstellung der Lager nach Heimatkreisen alphabetisch geordnet, II Jugoslawien Sk – Kl/Lgl (Hamburg, 1962/1963), p. 15; Deutsches Rotes Kreuz. Suchdienst. Zivilverschollenenliste. Namenverzeichnis von in fremden Gewahrsam geratenen und verschollenen Zivilpersonen nach Lagerbereichen alphabetisch geordnet, D Jugoslawien N – Lgl (Hamburg, 1962/1963), pp. 232 – 233; Deutsches Rotes Kreuz. Suchdienst. Zivilverschollenenliste. Namenverzeichnis von in fremden Gewahrsam geratenen und verschollenen Zivilpersonen nach Heimatkreisen alphabetisch geordnet. C Jugoslawien N–Kl (Hamburg, 1962/1963).
[61] Deutsches Rotes Kreuz. Suchdienst. Zivilverschollenenliste. Namenverzeichnis von in fremden Gewahrsam geratenen und verschollenen Zivilpersonen nach Lagerbereichen alphabetisch geordnet, D Jugoslawien N – Lgl (Hamburg, 1962/1963), pp. 232. – 233.
[62] Rundbrief 2 für die HOG Gorjani – Tomaschanzi – Iwanowzi, Sindelfingen – Maichingen, 15 November 2001/15 January 2002.
[63] Dokumentation der Vertreibung der Deutschen aus Ost-Mitteleuropa, Band V, Das Schicksal der Deutschen in Jugoslawien, (Düseldorf, 1961; Munich 1984; Augsburg, 1994; Munich, 2004).
[64] Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band II, Erlebnisberichte über die Verbrechen an den Deutschen durch das Tito-Regime in der Zeit von 1944 – 1948, (Munich – Sindelfingen, 1993).
[65] Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV, Menschenverluste – Namen und Zahlen zu Verbrechen an den Deutschen durch das Tito-Regime in der Zeit von 1944 – 1948 (Munich – Sindelfingen, 1994).
[66] Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV., p. 972.
[67] Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band III, p. 992.
[68] See www.totenbuch-donauschwaben.at/de.
[69] See Hrastovac – Eichendorf. Krndija Death Camp, www.dvh.org/hrastovac/krndija-death-camp.htm.
[70] Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV., pp. 869, 872 – 873, 907, 927 – 928, 932, 936.
[73] Verbrechen an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien 1944 – 1948. Die Stationen eines Völkermords, p. 219.
[74] Genocide of the Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia 1944 – 1948, p. 125.
[75] Genocid nad nema?kom manjinom u Jugoslaviji 1944 – 1948, p. 157.
[76] See the St. Ladislav Parish in Punitovci, Parish archives, sign. A – XI – 1 Liber memorabilium parochiae Punitovci.
[77] Narodne novine, Službeni list Republike Hrvatske, no. 32 (Zagreb), 24 March 1997, p. XXIV; Narodne novine, Službeni list Republike Hrvatske, no. 161 (Zagreb), 18 December 1998, p. XXII.
[78] Narodne novine, Službeni list Narodne Republike Hrvatske, no. 124 (Zagreb), 4 October 1946, p. 10.
[79] Mato Luka?evi?, Mladen ?akovi?, Stjepan Jakab, and Ivo Tubanovi? (eds.), Prešu?ene žrtve ?akova i ?akovštine u Drugom svjetskom ratu i pora?u (?akovo, 2007), pp. 23 – 196.
[80] Marko ?idara, "Popis drenova?kih stradalnika u Drugom svjetskom ratu," in Hraš?e, no. 1 (Drenovci, 1996), pp. 34 – 41; Ivica ?osi? – Bukvin, "Vrbanjci stradalnici Drugog svjetskog rata," in Hraš?e, no. 2 (Drenovci, 1996), pp. 31 – 37; Vinko Juzbaši?, "Prilog popisu stradalnika sela Bošnjaci u Drugom svjetskom ratu i pora?u," in Hraš?e, no. 6 (Drenovci, 1997), pp. 83 – 89; Stjepan Bogutovac, Rajev?ani stradalnici u Drugom svjetskom ratu, Hraš?e, nos. 9-10 (Drenovci, 1997), pp. 103 – 107; Stjepan Bogutovac, Gunjanci stradalnici u Drugom svjetskom ratu, Hraš?e, no. 11 (Drenovci, 1998), pp. 57 – 62; Ivica ?osi? – Bukvin, Vrbanja IV. Vrbanja od 1941. do 1945. (Vrbanja, 2000), pp. 339 – 340; Ivica ?osi? – Bukvin (ed.), "Pripadnici njema?ke narodnosne skupine (folksdoj?eri) poginuli, nestali, umrli za vrijeme Drugoga svjetskoga rata i pora?a iz 9 cvelferijskih sela, Putuju?i Slavonijom," in Godišnjak za povijest, kulturu, pouku i razonodu, no. 22 (Vinkovci, 2004), pp. 53 – 57; Ivan ?osi? – Bukvin, "Pripadnici njema?ke narodnosne skupine (folksdoj?eri) poginuli, umrli i nestali za vrijeme Drugog svjetskoga rata i pora?a iz cvelferijskih sela," in Godišnjak Njema?ke narodnosne zajednice/VDG Jahrbuch 2006 (Osijek, 2006), pp. 249. – 254.
[81] Alojz Buljan, Franjo Horvat, Žrtve Drugoga svjetskog rata i pora?a na podru?ju bivše op?ine Novska (Grad Novska i op?ine Jasenovac i Lipovljani) (Novska, 2005), pp. 109, 116, 728, 750; Alojz Buljan, Franjo Horvat, Žrtve Drugoga svjetskog rata i pora?a na podru?ju bivšeg kotara/op?ine Novska (Grad Novska, op?ine Jasenovac i Lipovljani, Grad Kutina – dio i Grad Sisak – dio) (Novska, 2006), pp. 129, 138, 874, 993.
[82] Notes titled "Zivilopfer in den Vernichtungs- und Internierungslagern, verhungert oder sonst umgekommen," in correspondence from Stefan Schwob (Dietenheim, Germany), 29 June 2002, to V. Geiger.
[83] Notes by Rosa Selinsek-Mutlitz, titled "Personen die im Vernichtungslager Krndija von 1945 – 1948 gestorben sind" [Satnica ?akova?ka, Tomašanci, Gorjani, Viškovci], Mainz – Bretzenheim, s.a.
[84] T. Šali?, "?ur?anci u prostoru i vremenu," in T. Šali? and A. Pavi?, ?ur?anci kod ?akova (?akovo, 2006), pp. 86 – 88.
[85] See Hrastovac – Eichendorf. Krndija Death Camp, www.dvhh.org/hrastovac/krndija-death-camp.htm.
[86] Correspondence from Waldraut Schlegel (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA), 2 March 2002, to V. Geiger.
[88] See. Hrastovac – Eichendorf. Krndija Death Camp, www.dvhh.org/hrastovac/krndija-death-camp.htm.
[89] Correspondence from Mirko Herschak (Wiesental, Njema?ka), 19 September 2005, to V. Geiger.
[90] Correspondence from Terezija Letini? Ciglene?ki (Požega), 12 July 2002, to V. Geiger.
[91] T. Wittenberg, "Drugi svjetski rat i egzodus Nijemaca i Austrijanaca iz Požeške doline," str. 259.-323.
[92] Vladimir Geiger, "Žrtvoslov Nijemaca Požege i Požeške kotline. Drugi svjetski rat i pora?e," in Scrinia slavonica, no. 7 (Slavonski Brod, 2007), str. 429. – 457.
[93] I. ?osi? – Bukvin, Vrbanja IV. Vrbanja od 1941. do 1945., p. 339.; I. ?osi? – Bukvin, Vrbanjci stradalnici Drugog svjetskog rata, str. 33.; I. ?osi? – Bukvin (ed.), "Pripadnici njema?ke narodnosne skupine (folksdoj?eri) poginuli, nestali, umrli za vrijeme Drugoga svjetskoga rata i pora?a iz 9 cvelferijskih sela, Putuju?i Slavonijom," in Godišnjak za povijest, kulturu, pouku i razonodu, no. 22 (Vinkovci, 2004), p. 54; I. ?osi? – Bukvin, "Pripadnici njema?ke narodnosne skupine (folksdoj?eri) poginuli, umrli i nestali za vrijeme Drugog svjetskoga rata i pora?a iz cvelferijskih sela," in Godišnjak Njema?ke narodnosne zajednice/VDG Jahrbuch 2006 (Osijek, 2006), p. 250.
[94] W. A. Zimmermann, Dorfchronik Wutschewzi 1850 – 1945, p. 428.
[95] According to Magdalene Märzluft (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA). See Hrastovac – Eichendorf. Krndija Death Camp, www.dvh.org/hrastovac/krndija-death-camp.htm.
[96] Written testimonies by Ana Brki? (formerly Holterer) and Anna Pavi?i? (née Holterer) from Osijek 1999. Administrative commission of the government of the Republic of Croatia. See Administrative office of Osje?ko-baranjskoj županiji, Registry office ?akovo, Register of the deceased in the parish of Punitovci, 1929 – 1948.
[97] Interview with Jelena "Jelka" Kurtnaker in Požega, 27 June 2002, V. Geiger; V. Geiger, "Nijemci Požege i Požeške kotline 1945. – 1946.: dokumenti i sje?anja/iskazi," p. 473.; T. Wittenberg, "Drugi svjetski rat i egzodus Nijemaca i Austrijanaca iz Požeške doline," p. 306; Ivanka Kandjera and Josip Prološ?i? (eds.), Maslinovu gran?icu donesi. Zbirka poezije i proze Jelene Kurtnaker (Požega, 2002), pp. 57 – 58, 62 – 64.
[98] Ustav Federativne Narodne Republike Jugoslavije (Belgrade, 1946), pp. 13, 14.
[99] Interview with Lorenz Gratz (Oberdischingen, Germany), 25 August 2002, by Stefan Schwob (Dietenheim, Germany).
[100] T. Šali?, ?ur?anci u prostoru i vremenu, p. 88.
[101] S. Bogutovac, "Rajev?ani stradalnici u Drugom svjetskom ratu," p. 105.
[102] M. ?idara, "Popis drenova?kih stradalnika u Drugom svjetskom ratu," pp. 38 – 39.
[103] J. Werni, K. Reiber, J. Eder, Heimatbuch Tomaschanzi – Gorjani, p. 159.; Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV, p. 949.
[104] Notes by Rosa Selinsek – Mutlitz, titled "Personen die im Vernichtungslager Krndija von 1945 – 1948 gestorben sind [Satnica ?akova?ka, Tomašanci, Gorjani, Viškovci], Mainz – Bretzenheim, s.a.
[105] J. Werni, K. Reiber, J. Eder, Heimatbuch Tomaschanzi – Gorjani, p. 193; Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV, p. 927.; Rundbrief 2 für die HOG Gorjani – Tomaschanzi – Iwanowzi, Sindelfingen – Maichingen, 15 November 2001/15 January 2002, s.p.
[106] J. Werni, K. Reiber, J. Eder, Heimatbuch Tomaschanzi – Gorjani, p. 185.; Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV, p. 927-928.; Rundbrief 2 für die HOG Gorjani – Tomaschanzi – Iwanowzi, Sindelfingen – Maichingen, 15 November 2001/15 January 2002, s.p.
[107] J. Werni, K. Reiber, J. Eder, Heimatbuch Tomaschanzi – Gorjani, p. 193.; Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV, p. 928.; Rundbrief 2 für die HOG Gorjani – Tomaschanzi – Iwanowzi, Sindelfingen – Maichingen, 15 November 2001/15 January 2002, s.p.
[108] According to Magdalene Märzluft (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA). See Hrastovac – Eichendorf. Krndija Death Camp, www.dvh.org/hrastovac/krndija-death-camp.htm.
[109] J. Werni, K. Reiber, J. Eder, Heimatbuch Tomaschanzi – Gorjani, pp. 141, 155, 156; Leidensweg der Deutschen im kommunistischen Jugoslawien, Band IV, p. 949.
[110] According to Katarina Kolb (Dortmund, Germany), 10 October 2003, told to Branko Ostajmer (Djakovo).
[111] V. Geiger, Nijemci u Djakovu i Djakovštini, pp. 182 – 183, and the sources therein.
In October 1944 after Tito-Partisans came to power in Yugoslavia, there were still 194,759 ethnic Germans (Donauschwaben) living there. Of those
6,760 were killed prior to having been sent to the starvation camps.
166,970 were being put into the starvation camps between 1945 and 1948.
48,447 survived the starvation camps.
12,380 were deported to Russian slave labor camps. Of those
1,994 died in Russian slave labor camps.
As per Mrs. Maerzluft's recollection in Hrastovac during that time
– Jakob Mueller was found dead in a well at the end of town.
– Georg Bohmer was found dead on top his manure pile.
– Johann Shaeffer was kidnapped and found dead at a Partisan camp in a wooded area.
– The Partisans dragged Hans Kaiser to death behind horse and wagon.
– The Partisans raped to death Mrs. Bulich (the town's mid-wife).
By May 1945 those who were not killed yet were evicted from their hereditary homes and were placed into forced labor and starvation camps with the hope by the powers of the time to fully eliminate them. Many prisoners died of starvation, were beaten to death or shot or died on illnesses like typhus and malaria. The camps were closed in 1948.
KRNDIJA was one of the eight most notorious Yugoslav death camps for the country's ethnic German minority where they perished en mass.
Hrastovacers who perished in Krndija
As per recollection of Mrs. Maerzluft
Baecker , Anna, nee Faust, † in Krndija; daughter-in-law of Johann & Kristina Baecker;
Baecker, Johann, *1876 March 29; † in 1946 in Krndija;
Baecker, Kristina, nee Ferber, *ca. 1883; † in Krndija; wife of Johann Baecker;
Faust, Anna, nee Rapp; † in Krndija; mother of Anna Kautmann and Eva Kehl;
Kah, Anna; † a few days after release from Krndija;
Kautmann, Anna, nee Faust, † in Krnidja, daughter of Anna Faust;
Kehl, Eva, nee Faust and little daughter Anna, † in 1945 in Krndija,
Ochsenhoffer, Kristina, † a few days after release from Krndija;
Velika Mlinskaer who died in Krndija:
As per recollection of Mrs. Ferber
Birkenbach, Anna, nee Eiler, * in Antunovac; † 1945, December;
Ferber, Elisabeth, nee Hock; † 1885, † 1946, March;
Knies, Elisabeth, nee Krauss, * 1905 Sep 29; † 1946 Feb 21;
Kraus, Heinrich, *1877 Jul 7; † 1946 Mar 1, father of Elisabeth Knies;
Lux, Elisabeth, nee Mueller, *1885 Jan 27; † 1946 Feb 22;
Mueller, Peter, † 1946, father of Elisabeth Lux;
Rittinger, Katharina, nee Ferber, *1921 Aug. 2 in Mlinska, † 1946 Mar 23;
Rittinger, Katharina, nee Hock, 1887 Sept. 14, † 1946 Mar 26;
Rohmann, Christina, nee Kah, *1900 in Hrastovac; † in Krndija;
Rotenbiller, Elisabeth, nee Rohmann, *1925 Jan 1; † 1946;
Other Surrounding Villages:
As per contribution by Dr. V. Geiger
Frudinger, Anna, nee Kniess, from Bastaji, *1895;
Frudinger, Georg, from Bastaji, *1885, Apr 26;
Grünwald, Eva, nee Summenauer from Bastaji, *1886 Mar 6;
Hock, Stjepan from Sokolovac, *1866; † 1945 Sep 23;
Jelinek, Wenzel, from Kakinac, *1882 † 1945 Oct 8;
Staubhenzer, Lisa from Daruvar, *1867 † 1945 Sep 1;
The silence has to be broken.
The homage is long overdue.
The author Dr. Vladimir Geiger graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb with the theme of the German National Folk Group in the Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945), and his doctorate in 1996 with the thesis of the German Ethnic Community in Djakovo, the city of his place of birth. Dr. Geiger has been working at the Croatian Institute of History in Zagreb and is the author of many historical books and is working on the scientific project on "Human Losses of Croatia in the Second Word War."