Jasenovac and the Persistence of the Past

This article discusses the contested and iconic status that former WWII Jasenovac Concentration Camp has in context of Croatian and wider Southeastern European war heritage. As a starting point, the historical background of the Jasenovac Concentration Camp will be viewed within the context of the political and social conflicts in Southeastern Europe in the mid-twentieth century, giving the special focus to the development of Croatian history from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867) until today. Following that, the discussion will focus on the role of Jasenovac in contemporary memory politics in Croatia and neighbouring countries, which even resulted in physically and spatially separated Jasenovac memorials and competing memories which continues to fuel ethnic, national, and religious conflicts, still being tacitly present in Southeastern Europe.