This paper analyzes the conflicting efforts to redefine the meaning of the Jasenovac memorial site in the 1990s. Having been the largest concentration camp in the Axis puppet state during WWII known as the Independent State of Croatia, Jasenovac played a crucial role in the politics of memory during and after the breakup of Yugoslavia. It became a focal point as policymakers in this region attempted to manipulate it for their respective causes.
During the Croatian War of Independence from 1991 to 1995, Serbian nationalists controlled Jasenovac, defining the site as a symbol of the enormous suffering of Serbs that attested to the legitimacy of the Serbian separatist cause. However, after Croatia regained Jasenovac in a military operation in May 1995, Croatian President Franjo Tuđman advocated the reburial at the site of victims of crimes committed by Partisans and its remaking as a memorial site for all war victims. Although not actualized in the face of severe criticism at home and abroad, his call was an attempt to place Jasenovac within the “national reconciliation of all Croats” narrative promoted by the nationalist ruling party during the 1990s.
By analyzing the reporting of commemoration ceremonies, debates in newspaper articles and magazines, as well as other related documents, this article explores how different actors sought to place Jasenovac in their respective narratives during and after the Croatian War of Independence. This study aims to reveal how competing attempts were intertwined in the reconstruction of the site as a symbol of national victimhood.
