Zemaljska komisija za Bosnu i Hercegovinu za utvrđivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača

  • State Commission for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Investigation of the Crimes of the Occupiers and their supporters
Identifier
(sig. ZKUZ)
Language of Description
English
Dates
1944 - 1947
Level of Description
Fonds
Languages
  • Bosnian
  • Croatian
  • Serbian
  • Serbo-Croatian
Scripts
  • Cyrillic
  • Latin
Source
EHRI

Extent and Medium

27 books, 366 boxes, 110 folders

Scope and Content

Contains information about questioning and deportations of Jews in Banjaluka and confiscation of Jewish property, details of terror against Jews in Bihać during 1941, details about seized buildings by Ustasha government, extortion of gold and silver, theft of synagogue's inventory, etc. Also contains records regarding torture of Jews in town of bijeljina, conducted by local Culturbund (local Germans). Similar details can be found regarding town of Mostar, in 1942. Jews in Mostar were imprisoned by Italian government and transferred to camps located on island in Adriatic sea, where they were held until Italy's capitulation in 1943. Also, information about property of some Jewish families (Papo, etc.) and lists of victims are available, as well as registries of war criminals, etc.

The collection includes many testimonies of victims, witnesses, and perpetrators collected by the Yugoslav authorities during or immediately after the war. Testimonies of Holocaust survivors, as well as other victims of the Ustaša regime's terror, are a vital source for any study concerning the history of the Holocaust on a local, regional, and state level in the Independent State of Croatia. The material in the collection sheds light on the legal, economic, and social aspects of the Holocaust. Researchers working on the history of concentration camps and the "Aryanization" of Jewish property will find the collection of exceptional importance. Moreover, ego documents in the collection are an invaluable source for studying family, social networks, survival strategies, resistance, and the history of emotions. The material is organized into 240 boxes, divided according to different localities, mainly Bosanska Dubica, Bihać, Bijeljina, Banja Luka, Bosanski Petrovac, Bugojno, Jajce, Kalinovik, Kladanj, Ključ, Kiseljak, Konjic, Kotor Varoš, Livno, Bugojno, Gos. Grahovo, Doboj, Derventa, Drvar, Lopare, Ljubuško, Blagaj, Mostar, Mrkonjić Grad, Nevesinje, Foča, Zavidovići, Duvno, Glamoč, Goražde, Odžak, Posušje, Prijedor, Breza, Bos. Krupa, Bos. Novi, Bos. Gradiška, Prnjavor, Velika Kladuša, Višegrad, Teslić, Stolac, Tešanj, Trebinje, Travnik, Tuzla, Vareš, Vlasenica, Zvornik, Zenica. Fifteen boxes are concerned with lists of victims, organized according to different regions and counties, including victims from Sarajevo, Travnik, Gradačac, Drvar, Mrkonjić Grad, Jajce, Konjic, Bos. Novi, Bos. Gradiška, Bos. Dubica, Bijeljina, Doboj, Bileća, Bugojno, Cazin, Bos. Petrovac, Vlasenica Zvornik.

The collection also contains valuable material concerning the perpetrators' history, including their testimonies and trial records. Two archival boxes have materials related to interrogating perpetrators from various social, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. Thus, the collection offers essential information on the dynamics of genocide in a multiethnic setting where perpetration often cuts through the religious, ethnic, or national backgrounds. Six boxes in this collection are concerned with lists of war criminals, which offers material fruitful for both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Researchers focusing on justice, trials, and perpetrator history will also find 16 boxes of materials with legal proceedings and judgments against the perpetrators in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most of these judgments were implemented immediately after the war, from 1945 to 1948, which is particularly important for studying the evolution of legal proceedings regarding the perpetration of war crimes in Socialist Yugoslavia.

Archivist Note

Description added by Adnan Tinjic Update about ego-documents in the collection by Lovro Kralj (2023)

Rules and Conventions

EHRI Guidelines for Description v.1.0