SERB CHILDREN KILLED IN OVER 100 WAYS - FORCED CONVERSIONS, DEHUMANIZATION UNDER THE NDH

BELGRADE, AUGUST 18 /SRNA/ - The crimes committed against Serb children under the Independent State of Croatia /NDH/ are unparalleled in history - Serb children were killed in more than 100 ways, forcibly converted, and subjected to the most monstrous forms of humiliation, said Mile Bosnić, President of the Movement of Krajina Serbs, in a statement to SRNA.

Speaking on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance for the Murdered and Perished Children of the NDH, to be marked tomorrow in the hamlet of Macure in the Prijedor settlement of Gornji Jelovac, Bosnić said that while the figure often cited is around 70,000 Serb children killed, the actual number is likely much higher. Prior to World War II, Serb households - traditional family cooperatives - often had ten or more children.

"In Serb villages like Prebilovci, entire extended families were wiped out. In that village alone, 80 percent of the population was killed. There is not a single Serb village within the NDH territory that was spared," Bosnić recalled.

He pointed out that children in NDH-run camps underwent special indoctrination, with older ones groomed to join the Ustasha youth ranks, while younger ones were stripped of identity.

"They were given new names and surnames, a new birth date - April 10, the founding date of the NDH, and new `parents,`" Bosnić said.

He noted that, disturbingly, even some within the Serbian academic community have, over the past decade, promoted the narrative that these children were “rescued,” a claim he finds utterly appalling.

"That narrative was deliberately launched from Kaptol and Zagreb to cover up one of the most horrifying aspects of genocide - the separation of children from their families, placing them in camps, then converting them to another religion. They were lost forever to their people," Bosnić said.

In a manuscript shared with SRNA, Bosnić listed over 100 documented methods of torture and killing of Serb children under the NDH, adding that new details continue to emerge.

"Just days ago I discovered that, in Prebilovci, Ustashas did not throw children directly into pits, they threw them into the air, laughing and shouting as they watched their bodies split apart. Unborn babies were cut from mothers' wombs, and in some cases, the born child, or even animals, were sewn into them. Pits were doused with quicklime, and glass was mixed into children's food," he said.

He underscored the particularly degrading abuse that victims endured before execution.

"Fathers were forced into intercourse with their underage daughters, mothers with their sons. There is a recorded case of a disabled girl being raped with the aid of a dog. Children were forced to stare into the sun until they went blind, mothers’ breasts were cut off and placed into their infants' mouths. Some mothers were forced to kill their own children to spare them from torture," Bosnić said.

He stressed the importance of remembering the suffering of Serb children and praised the establishment of the Day of Remembrance in Republika Srpska. However, he emphasized that it is crucial for Serbia to adopt a resolution recognizing the genocide committed against Serbs in the NDH - a step long overdue.

"Let them simply count the children murdered in Stari Brod. We must not lower our heads and stay silent," Bosnić said.

He described the genocide of Serb children as a permanent stain on the conscience of Croatia and of humanity itself, but also acknowledged that part of the blame for the lack of recognition lies with the Serbs, who have yet to adopt such a resolution.

"Too much time has passed. The demographic consequences for the Serb people are immeasurable. And above all, we must recognize that the genocide against children was the most horrifying part of the genocide committed against Serbs in the NDH, especially given that it was the only regime in the world to establish concentration camps specifically for children," Bosnić emphasized.

He announced that, in an effort to correct this decades-long injustice, the movement will submit a petition to the Serbian National Assembly on August 5 or 6, calling for the adoption of a resolution that would formally initiate a broader national reckoning with the genocide committed against Serbs under the Ustaša regime.

The Day of Remembrance for the Murdered and Perished Children of the NDH will be marked tomorrow in the hamlet of Macure, in the Prijedor settlement of Gornji Jelovac.