ZAGREB, March 23 (Hina) - "Dinko Sakic was gray eminence at Stara Gradiska. I did not see him select anyone during the musters, but they certainly did not take place without his knowledge, as deputy to the camp commander Mile
Oreskovic. Inmates had different stories. Some used to say that he was in charge of spying on the prisoners", said Simo Klaic in his testimony before the Zagreb County Court on Tuesday. Klaic, who was imprisoned in Jasenovac, Stara Gradiska and Lepoglava, is testifying in the trial of Dinko Sakic, accused of war crimes against civilian populations in WWII. The witness was answering a question by Deputy County State Attorney Janjko Grlic, who asked him if Sakic had selected a prisoner during the musters. According to Klaic, Sakic was at Stara Gradiska until mid-November 1942 and he used to see him almost every day. Sanitary conditions at the camp were very poor, Klaic said. There was no water, and typ
ZAGREB, March 23 (Hina) - "Dinko Sakic was gray eminence at Stara
Gradiska. I did not see him select anyone during the musters, but
they certainly did not take place without his knowledge, as deputy
to the camp commander Mile Oreskovic. Inmates had different
stories. Some used to say that he was in charge of spying on the
prisoners", said Simo Klaic in his testimony before the Zagreb
County Court on Tuesday.
Klaic, who was imprisoned in Jasenovac, Stara Gradiska and
Lepoglava, is testifying in the trial of Dinko Sakic, accused of war
crimes against civilian populations in WWII.
The witness was answering a question by Deputy County State
Attorney Janjko Grlic, who asked him if Sakic had selected a
prisoner during the musters.
According to Klaic, Sakic was at Stara Gradiska until mid-November
1942 and he used to see him almost every day.
Sanitary conditions at the camp were very poor, Klaic said. There
was no water, and typhus, typhoid and dysentery reigned. "There
were no medications whatsoever. We baked corn and made tee from oak
bark. Soldiers and officers treated prisoners in the same way. We
were game to be culled. Any of them could, at any time, kill a
prisoner", Klaic said.
During 1942, Jews and Serbs were transferred from Gradiska to
Jasenovac, but there were also transfers from Jasenovac to
Gradiska. The prisoners mixed all the time. During the poisoning of
children with Zyklon-B in August 1942, the commander of the camp was
Oreskovic, Klaic said. He said he did not know whether Oreskovic had
been present at the camp at the time of the execution.
Asked how many people were brought from Mount Kozara in 1942 to the
camp, Klaic said the camp was packed. He believed there might have
been between 8,000 and 10,000 people.
Describing the treatment of prisoners at the camps, Klaic said
Jasenovac was a mass execution site. "Some 8,000 prisoners were
killed at Stara Gradiska. In Lepoglava, where Croats and Jews were
imprisoned, there were no mass, but rather individual executions,
which was the reason why prisoners were transported to Jasenovac in
April 1945", he said.
Klaic also spoke about a committee for the "Kula" building, whose
purpose was to gather items, documents and testimonies of
prisoners. "Everything was stored at the Jasenovac Memorial
Centre, and in 1991 it was transferred to Banja Luka, Belgrade and
Novi Sad", he said. In 1987 Klaic suggested to the then Yugoslav
Academy of Arts and Sciences to form a commission with the aim of
establishing the exact number of WWII victims.
"Because of the permanent 'auctioning' of victims, I insisted that
the crimes committed not only by the Ustashi, but also by the
Germans, Italians, Hungarians, ballista, Chetniks and others be
established".
According to Klaic, the committee for the "Kula" was formed in the
80's to prevent the establishment of two Jasenovac memorial areas.
"In Bosnia-Herzegovina, they wanted to write that 650,000 people
had been killed in the Gradina area. I told them it was nonsense, and
not to write it, because they would be ashamed later", Klaic said.
Addressing the witness, defence attorney Ivan Kern warned him that
there were discrepancies in his statements as regarded Sakic's camp
status during the investigation and at today's main hearing. "It
was long ago and I could not remember all the details in the
investigation. Trying to recall my stay at the camp, I remembered
what I have presented now. Now I know that Dinko Sakic first worked
in the administrative department of the camp's command, and was
later deputy commander", Klaic said. He added that he had learned
this at the camp and later in conversation with other prisoners who
worked in the command, kitchen or the supply department.
Attorney Kern objected that those were not details but important
facts. Asked why he had not mentioned the connection between
Miskin's murder and Sakic during the investigation, the witness
said that in May 1945, he had learned about Sakic's participation in
the murder from an imprisoned Ustasha and from materials he
received while he was a member of the "Kula" committee.
Asked why he could not recall it during the investigation, Klaic
said he could not remember it because of the uninterrupted and long
questioning that day. He added that he did not have any problems
because of his testimony in the investigation.
(hina) rml