ZAGREB, March 30 (Hina) - In his testimony before the Zagreb County Court on Tuesday, in the trial of Dinko Sakic, a commander of the Jasenovac concentration camp, witness Tibor Lovrencic said he did not remember when he had first
seen Sakic. Lovrencic said he did not use to see him often but he knew that Sakic was superior to other Ustasha officers. The witness said the year 1944 was much "quieter" than an earlier period: mass was organised every Sunday for camp prisoners, a thing hard to imagine earlier; there was even a theatre troupe in the camp. The food was more or less the same as it had been earlier - of poor quality and meagre. Describing the Ustasha camp administration, Lovrencic said it was headed by an administrator who had his subordinates - heads of working services. The person in charge of the camp section was an inmate called "logornik", while his subordinates, in charge of working groups, were
ZAGREB, March 30 (Hina) - In his testimony before the Zagreb County
Court on Tuesday, in the trial of Dinko Sakic, a commander of the
Jasenovac concentration camp, witness Tibor Lovrencic said he did
not remember when he had first seen Sakic.
Lovrencic said he did not use to see him often but he knew that Sakic
was superior to other Ustasha officers.
The witness said the year 1944 was much "quieter" than an earlier
period: mass was organised every Sunday for camp prisoners, a thing
hard to imagine earlier; there was even a theatre troupe in the
camp. The food was more or less the same as it had been earlier - of
poor quality and meagre.
Describing the Ustasha camp administration, Lovrencic said it was
headed by an administrator who had his subordinates - heads of
working services. The person in charge of the camp section was an
inmate called "logornik", while his subordinates, in charge of
working groups, were called "grupnici".
Prisoners who had been in the camp for a long time - Jewish engineers
from Sarajevo - worked in the drawing room. "Grupnici" were mainly
educated Jews, while Serbs, who were mostly peasants, did manual
work, the witness said.
There was no contact between the prisoners and the Ustashi, except
during the work. The treatment of prisoners depended mainly on the
temper of Ustasha officers or non-commissioned officers and their
attitude towards prisoners, Lovrencic said, adding the supervisor
of his group, a man by the name Mandic, had been fair to him.
Lovrencic recalled having been offered schnapps and a newspaper by
an Ustasha officer, but he did not dare take it because, he said, he
would have probably been punished. Lovrencic said this kind of
prisoner treatment was common in the period between late 1943 and
early 1944.
He added that any failure at work or possible damage caused by
inexperience could be interpreted as subversion, which could incur
punishment and even execution.
Every escape attempt was followed by a muster of all prisoners. The
group to which the escapee or the prisoner who attempted to escape
belonged would receive the most severe punishment. The witness said
he personally never watched executions. "I would bow my head and
lower my eyes because the mental survival was equally important as
the food", he said.
Lovrencic believes that the musters could be ordered only by the
camp command but he did not remember seeing camp administrators
attend the executions. The prisoners were punished by non-
commissioned officers and group supervisors. "They were known as
the executioners", Lovrencic said without mentioning any names.
He added that the lower-ranked Ustashi were in charge "of those
things".
Asked by County State Attorney Radovan Santek about the execution
of Mile Boskovic and another 20 prisoners, the witness said he had
attended the muster but did not remember whether Sakic was the camp
commander at the time. Lovrencic also attended a muster in spring or
summer 1943, when six or seven randomly chosen prisoners were
killed. "They had to kneel down and were shot at the back of their
heads from a pistol", he said.
Lovrencic remembered having seen through a window in autumn 1943
some twenty Chetniks, stripped naked and tied with wire, being
taken to Granik (a location near the Sava River). He later learned
that some 200 Chetniks were executed at Granik. "Granik meant
execution and being thrown into the Sava", he said adding the
execution would take place when the Sava was in spate, "so that the
crime could be concealed".
Speaking about the case of prisoner Wollner, Lovrencic said the
Ustashi killed Wollner while he was allegedly trying to escape.
The witness said he had no knowledge of possible retaliation
against the prisoners. He also remembered the disappearance of
"logornik" Winer who, as he learned, had been killed with his entire
family in a boat and thrown into the Sava.
In autumn 1943, mass executions were taking place to reduce the
number of prisoners, said Lovrencic.
He also spoke about the time in late 1944 and early 1945, when Hinko
Picili was the camp commander and when "something human" was burned
at Gradina. A group of prisoners was taken to Gradina and they never
came back. "The Zvonara was a prison within the camp and it was known
as the last life station", the witness said adding the prisoners had
been taken to the Zvonara in great numbers.
Speaking about the execution of the women section of the camp in
April 1945, Lovrencic said he saw a column of women at the Sava
embankment. He later heard that the women were taken to Ustica where
they were killed.
On one occasion, Lovrencic recalled, when a section of a wall was to
be built, he told Maks Luburic there was no sense in building it,
which Luburic agreed with. "Some thought I was crazy for allowing
myself say such a thing", he said adding he believed having seen
Sakic accompany Luburic on that occasion.
(hina) jn rml