Before the Second World War, around 70,000 Jews lived in Yugoslavia, gathered in 121 communities, of which Belgrade, Zagreb and Sarajevo were the main ones. During the Holocaust these communities were almost completely destroyed, between mass killings and deportations organized by the Germans and by the Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Italian and Albanian collaborationist forces. In this sense, the Holocaust in Yugoslavia represents the paradigm of the Holocaust in Europe, where the destruction was almost total following Nazi policy and the help of various collaborators. The lecture will introduce the main topics connected to the Holocaust in Yugoslavia and explain the role of the different perpetrators.

The lecture is part of the cycle “Holocaust and Genocides in the 20th century: Open Lectures” organized by the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory of the University of Belgrade together with partners within the project “Introduction of the first MA Program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Serbia”, supported by the U.S. Embassy in Serbia.

This project was supported by the U.S. Embassy Belgrade.  The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government.