these atrocities were recorded in novelistic literature and poetry: malaparte's kaputt "basket of oysters chapter", inspired by the widespread practices of the ustaše gouging out the eyes of serbs; kovačić's "jama (the pit)", where ustaše tied serbs with barbed wire and dropped them into pits; oljača's "kozara"; svetina's "volčiči (the wolf puppies)". as far as the serb population of the puppet state was concerned, the stated aim was the extermination of a third of their numbers, exile for another third, and a forced conversion to catholicism for yet another. the ustaše succeeded in reaching their first goal, exterminating close to one third of the serbs and possibly more. a gestapo report to himmler (17 february 1942) on increased partisan activities stated that "increased activity of the bands is chiefly due to atrocities carried out by ustasha units in croatia against the orthodox population. the ustashas committed their deeds in a bestial manner not only against males of conscript age, but especially against helpless old people, women and children. the number of the orthodox that the croats have massacred and sadistically tortured to death is about three hundred thousand."