LINTA: DOBOJ CAMP ONE OF THE GRAVEST EXAMPLES OF ORGANISED SUFFERING OF SERBS

BELGRADE, DECEMBER 28 /SRNA/ – Head of the Association of Serbs from the Region /SSR/ Miodrag Linta stated that the establishment of the Doboj concentration camp was one of the gravest examples of organised suffering of the Serb people during World War I.

Linta recalled that it was the first mass concentration camp in Europe intended for civilians, primarily Serbs from BiH, including women, children, and the elderly, the SSR announced. “There was also a smaller number of civilians from Serbia and Montenegro and Serb soldiers in the camp. In total, about 45,800 people were detained, while around 12,000 Serbs lost their lives, mostly due to starvation and inhumane conditions,” Linta said, marking the 110th anniversary of the establishment of the Doboj concentration camp. He assessed that the most important goal of Austria-Hungary was to destroy the Serbs, primarily along the borders with Serbia and Montenegro and in central BiH. According to him, the Doboj camp was established in order to “finally resolve the Serb issue” and eliminate the “disruptive” factor in BiH, after which it would be easier to proceed further. “This infernal plan deliberately aimed at the complete extermination of one people and meets all the criteria set out in the United Nations Convention on Genocide,” Linta said. Linta pointed out that even before the outbreak of the First World War, the means of crushing the Serb people had been precisely planned, such as deportations, confinement in death camps, starvation and deprivation of water, summary courts and expedited sentences, the hanging of prominent individuals, persecutions, the burning of homes, seizure of livestock, destruction of the economy, and the eradication of all national symbols. Linta also emphasized that there has been a persistent, deliberate effort to fade and erase the memory of the existence of the Doboj camp, noting that Serbia should establish a Memorial Centre for the Genocide against Serbs in the First World War and actively fight for the truth about the planned and mass suffering of the Serb people between 1914 and 1918. The Doboj camp, established by Austria-Hungary during the First World War, was the first organised mass execution site in the history of what was then considered civilized Europe. The camp was established on December 27, 1915, and operated until July 5, 1917. A total of 45,791 Serbs were interned there: 16,673 men, 16,996 women and children from BiH, as well as 12,122 Serb soldiers and a number of elderly people, women, and children from Serbia and Montenegro, of whom around 12,000 were killed.