Public lecture by Tvrtko Jakovina – The Suffering of Jews in Croatia: The Holocaust on the Border of the German and Italian Empires during the Second World War
Jewish Studies Week Fall 2026
Monday, November 2
3:30 pm
12-15, Henry Marshall Tory Building
University of Alberta
The Suffering of Jews in Croatia:
The Holocaust on the Border of the German and Italian Empires during the Second World War
Tvrtko Jakovina, professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, MIREES, Universita di Bologna
The Jewish Community of Zagreb began its organized institutional activity in 1806 and in 2026 marks its 220th anniversary. Its survival distinguishes it from many other Jewish communities in Croatia, whose continuity was almost completely destroyed during the Holocaust. In the territory of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), the Axis-aligned state established under German influence, the first concentration camp, „Danica“, was established on 15 April 1941, only five days after the proclamation of the NDH. The first systematic racial and anti-Jewish laws were enacted on 30 April 1941, only twenty days after the establishment of the state.
The territory of the former Yugoslavia also became one of the principal arenas of the most significant and successful resistance movement in occupied Europe. For some Jews, joining Tito’s Partisan movement became a means of survival. Others sought refuge in areas under Italian military control, where, particularly during certain phases of the war, they had greater possibilities of avoiding deportation and extermination. The majority, however, were murdered in a system of concentration and detention camps, including both camps operated under German authority and camps established by the authorities of the NDH, most notably „Jasenovac“.
The lecture will focus primarily on the fate of Jews from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Second World War, while placing their experience in comparative perspective with the development of the Holocaust in other parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Particular attention will be given to the position of the NDH within the broader European system of occupation, alliance, and competing spheres of influence.
The Croatian case offers an opportunity to examine the Holocaust in a territory situated at the intersection of German and Italian spheres of control and at the southeastern margins of the Central and Eastern European Holocaust. The lecture will also consider how the destruction of a relatively small but historically established Jewish community in Croatia fits into the broader history of the Holocaust in Southeastern Europe.
https://www.ualberta.ca/en/wirth-institute/online-programming/jewish-studies/index.html
Holocaust Memory in Croatia and the Post-Yugoslav Region
How is the Holocaust remembered and discussed in Croatia and the wider post-Yugoslav region today?
Join renowned Croatian historian Tvrtko Jakovina, professor in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb and MIREES at the University of Bologna, for an engaging lecture exploring the complex relationship between history, memory and national identity. Jakovina will examine how interpretations of the Holocaust and other twentieth-century events continue to shape public discourse and collective memory across the region.
A respected political historian, author and public commentator, Jakovina brings valuable insight into the ways historical narratives influence contemporary society.
This lecture is presented by the Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies as part of Jewish Studies Week at the University of Alberta.
Admission is free and all are welcome.
Holocaust Memory in Croatia and the Post-Yugoslav Region
Monday, November 2 | 4 p.m.
2-58 Henry Marshall Tory Building, University of Alberta
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