Between 1941 and 1945, the Jasenovac concentration camp in the Nazi-puppet state of Croatia became a place of unspeakable horror for Serbian Orthodox Christians. Nearly 700,000 Orthodox Serbs gave their lives during World War II—killed simply for their faith.
Christian Persecution Under Ustasha Regime
The Croatian Ustasha regime gave Orthodox Serbs three choices: convert to Roman Catholicism, leave, or die. Most chose to die rather than deny their faith.
Surviving witnesses documented scenes of extraordinary courage. Girls, embracing each other, threw themselves into mountain rivers rather than be dishonored. Mothers threw their infants into the waters and jumped after them, knowing that what awaited on the shore was far worse.
Serbian Orthodox Martyrs Choose Death
One account tells of a group of prisoners gathered for execution. The Ustasha commander demanded they curse Christ and convert. An old priest stepped forward instead. "We will not curse our Savior," he said. "Do what you will." He was the first to die, and the others followed him, singing hymns.
In the diocese of Karlovac alone, 173 of 189 Orthodox churches were demolished. Others were desecrated—turned into slaughterhouses, stables, and latrines.
Faith Endures in Concentration Camps
Yet even in the camps, faith endured. Prisoners gathered secretly to pray. Priests heard confessions and offered communion with whatever bread could be found. Some scratched crosses into the walls of their cells.
After the war, the communist Yugoslav government suppressed these testimonies for decades. The archives remained sealed. It was impossible to publish the accounts of survivors.
Legacy of the New Martyrs
But in 2000, the Serbian Orthodox Church formally commemorated the New Martyrs of Jasenovac. Their feast day is September 13. Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich inscribed them in the Church calendar as "those who suffered for the Orthodox faith at the hands of the Roman crusaders and Ustashi during the time of the Second World War."
Their witness remains: faith cannot be destroyed by persecution. Those who died for Christ are crowned with martyrdom.
