Metal grave marker of a Jewish woman who was killed in Djakovo labor camp

Grave marker inscribed with the name of Matilda Haestro, age 59, originally from Sarajevo, that was placed in the Jewish cemetery of the former Djakovo labor camp in Dakovo in eastern Croatia after World War II (1939-1945.) In April 1941, Yugoslavia was dismembered by Nazi Germany and its allies. The fanatical, fascist Ustasa organization declared the creation of the Independent State of Croatia. The Ustasa established several concentration camps to separate and murder Jews, Serbs, Roma, and other ethnic and religious minorities, as well as political opponents. The Djakovo camp, on the grounds of a former flour mill, was used to incarcerate Jewish children and women, and a small number of Serbians, from December 1941 - June 1942. Nearly 4000 people were sent to the camp and nearly 600 died, chiefly of malnutrition and typhus. There were two major transports to the camp. In December 1941, a transport of 1830 Jewish children and women, and 50 Serbian girls, arrived in the camp. In February 1942, 1200 women were shipped from Stara Gradiska concentration camp to Djakovo. Beginning December 9, 1941, those who died were buried in a Jewish cemetery near the camp. Despite orders that the graves were to be unmarked, Stephan Kolb (1886-1945), the gravedigger at the Jewish cemetery from 1910-1945, secretly kept a list of where each victim was buried. After the war ended in May 1945, approximately 590 individual markers were placed on the graves identifying the name, town, and age of the victim. The Jewish Community of Sarajevo began a project in 2011 to replace the original grave markers which were deteriorating due to the weather, and donated the original markers to family members and museums.