MEMORANDUM 1941

MEMORANDUM by the Serbian Orthodox Church Sent to General Heinrich Dankelmann, Commander in Chief of the Nazi occupational forces in Serbia in August 1941

Introduction

The purpose of this pamphlet is to educate the wider global public of the Genocide of Serbs and events which took place in Croatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina at the start of the Second World War when Germany occupied and dismembered the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (formed in 1918).

These events were detrimental in the subsequent conflicts of the Yugoslav dissolution 1991-1995 and for present day etatist tensions. State formation in the Balkans in the 20th century had been tragic for the humanity as a whole as the annihilation included progressive individuals and others of all racial groups, religions and dominations with particular aim eradication the Serbian nation. This was historically the first genocide of comparable proportions perpetuated in the area since the early Middle Ages before even the Ottoman invasion, the process of state creation in the 20th century was violently started by Fascist forces made of Croatians and Bosnian Muslims and led by Hitler's appointee Croat Poglavnik Ante Pavelić, who was one of the organizers of the assassination of the Head of State Aleksandar Karađorđević in Marseille, France in 1934.  

For the sake of national conciliation and upkeep of the Yugoslav state many individuals chose to forget how the lasting animosities between these nations factually began. But conciliation must be based on true facts and knowledge. The publication of this text is not made with intention to perpetuate conflicts but to elucidate the past events which shaped our destinies. 

Heinrich Dankelmann was tried and executed in 1947 in Belgrade.

The text had been found in an émigrés library of the South Slav Journal (SSJ) in London in the 1990s. Unfortunately the reputable publisher had no recollection of who had sent the text. It is a printed proof copy with hand written annotations for further correction.

Any further historical elucidation about this document would be welcomed via the email address: democrit@protonmail.com

link for: Memorandum to General Heinrich Dankelman

About the Memorandum of the Serbian Orthodox Church

The official Memorandum of the Serbian Orthodox Church signed by Bishop Valerian tells us of the pogrom of Serbs which took place in four months, from April 10th when the Croatian state was created, until 8th of August. During this time the Croat and Bosnian fascists massacred over 180,000 Serbs. According to many estimates, over ensuing years of the Second World War the number of direct and indirect victims more than trebled. The territory on which the pogrom took place encompasses present day Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This was the beginning of first genocide in the Balkans since the so called Dark Ages, as confirmed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, an institution whose memory extends to the year 1219 when it was created.

This document deserves its place amongst the top primary sources for students of Serbian Studies (srbistika), but also for students of Bosnian and Croatian studies (croatistics, croatology), and for scholars and writers about genocide and World War 2. But, it should also be made known to the general public worldwide because of its scope which is only overshadowed by the Holocaust which took place in Europe in the same period.

This document was written at the time when massacres took place, it is clear and to the point. The brutality was exceptional and unexpected.  

The document is significant because the Serbian Genocide had a detrimental impaction both on the subsequent conflicts of the Yugoslav dissolution, 1991-1995, and still has influence on present day etatist tensions. Basically, the majority of Serbs of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina had some sort of personal memory and knowledge of the historical events. This had a huge effect on the mindset of many Serbs in the early 1990s, inducing fear that the genocide would “continue”. 

The Serbian Genocide was systematic and it was characterized by:

1.            Systematic eradication and torture of Christian Orthodox Clergy including rape of the wives and daughters of the clergy at the very start of the pogrom.

2.            Systematic eradication of literate Serbs, men and women, engaged in various professions. Systematic eradication of male population in villages.

3.            Participation of Bosnian Muslims in the pogroms.

4.            Participation of the Croatian Catholic Church.

5.            The invention of “Chetniks” in Croatian propaganda in order to justify pogroms before their international allies (German Nazis and Italian Fascists) and also the invention of Communist infiltration among the Serbs.

It is important to recognize these characteristics of the events of 1941-1945 because they directly explain why the wars of Yugoslav dissolution 1991-1995 took the shape they did, in same places, cities and regions. Destruction of Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim temples of worship was repeated, rape of women and systematic eradication of the male population were repeated in Srebrenica in 1995 - where 500 Serbs without a warning were massacred on 14 June 1941, the entire population bar one.

Vengeance and retribution for past historical grievances is certainly not the way forward but one must learn from the past. It is my belief that if the content of this Memorandum was internationally acknowledged, the wars of Yugoslav dissolution could have been avoided. But vested interests had suppressed this document for over 75 years. Firstly, the Yugoslav Government-in-exile in London, who’s Director of Information Department at the time was Monsignor Dr. A. Kuhar, did not agree on revealing the active participation the Catholic clergy in the pogroms. After 1945 Yugoslav and Croat governments repressed the knowledge of this genocide for the sake of maintaining the Yugoslav state.

Since the first publication this Memorandum on 1st of November 2017, with the purpose of finding more information about its origin, Dr Srboljub Živanović a forensic scientist born in Sarajevo and who lives in London, authenticated it as the English translation of the letter  which was brought to the Yugoslav Government-in-exile by Dr Sekulić in 1942 and passed the British Government.  Dr Sekulić brought the document from occupied Belgrade via South Africa and Portugal.

In the 1990s Nemanja Marčetić and Pat Thomas, co-editors of the South Slav Journal, who had two copies of the Memorandum but chose not to publish it in their journal, gave me one of their copies when I was a member of the editorial board. I did not realize its full significance until the present time.

During the summer of 2017 discussions between the Vatican and the Serbian Orthodox Church took place about the activities of the Croatian Catholic clergy during WW2. But, the general populace can only hope that the substance of these discussions will not remain secret for long.

This Memorandum should have the place of primary importance in the future Museum of Genocide which is planned to be built on the site of former Croat concentration camp in central Belgrade, alongside with the separate museums of Jewish and Roma Genocides. 

Vladimir Maričić, London, 11th November 2017

The above signed was born in Sarajevo in 1958, lives in London since 1990 and holds the title of Master of Peace Studies from the University of Bradford.