Book on the Righteous - Jevrejska opština Zemun

Righteous Among The Nations - Serbia
Historical Background
beginning, not only, of the dissolution of the system of
collective security in Europe, but also a departure from
principals of liberal ideology in a great number of countries.
German imperialistic expansionism, built into the
National-Socialist (Nazi) ideology, incorporated farreaching
plans of the “new order”. Such plans stemmed
from the notion of a natural hierarchy of nations and
states, in which the German Norse (Arian) “race” was
dominant. Among Nazism’s ideological postulates the
opinion that the devastating activity of Jews, whether
inclined to principals of liberal or Communist social
organization, was detrimental not only to the German
people, but to all other world nations. Enlightened and
biologically far advanced, the German nation was ordained
to lead others in the fight against the Absolute
Jewish Evil and its two emanations, liberal capitalism
and Bolshevik communism.
In the propagation of National-Socialist ideas and its
political postulates a leading role was given to compatible
political organizations and to the German ethnic
minority (Volksdeutschers) which was not insignificant
in numbers in neighbouring Central and East Europe. In
order to impair political and social relations that came as
a result of the First World War and build a “new order”
dominated by Nazi Germany, it was necessary to find a
common denominator as a basis; it came in the form of
the destruction of the social status of Jews. Within the
Nazi framework of a general “ethnic reorganization” of
European territory, especially its eastern parts, such a
standpoint evolved into a comprehensive “effort” to annihilate
all Jews living within the bounds of the Great
German Reich, its allies and satellites, once war began
in 1939; after the “crusade” on the Soviet Union on June
22, 1941, the effort progressed in a sinister way.
For Nazi Germany the building of a “new order” in
Europe was inseparable from the solution of the “Jewish
question”; the pressure Germany put on certain
countries under its influence implicated induction of
anti-Semitism measures. The method applied, the time
period and the extent of such measures did not depend
solely on German influence but on the country’s own
traditional anti-Semitism, the political culture and the
international standing of each country. It was just a matter
of time before Yugoslavia would have to distinctly
state its position on the question of Germany’s Nazi
“exported (racial) revolution”. The overthrow of the
“Versailles order” and the beginning of Second World
War brought the problem to the forefront; once anti-
Semitism was legalized in all of Yugoslavia’s neighbouring
countries, Greece excepted, the issue could no
longer remain moot.
From the mid-thirties anti-Semitic propaganda in Yugoslavia
was noticeably progressing in certain parts
of the country. The moment the Nazi element gained
dominance among the leadership of the organization of
the sizeable German ethnic minority of Yugoslavia, this
part of the population fell under the overpowering influence
of anti-Semitic propaganda dictated directly from
Germany.
Anti-Semitic propaganda in Croatia mostly formed a
unified front with anti-Yugoslav doctrines, i.e., anti-
Serbian, as the powers behind the propaganda upheld
party policies of such orientation. They were primarily
members of extreme right wing nationalistic and clerical
organizations as well as illegal terrorist organizations,
among which the Ustashi was predominant. The
traditionally influential Roman Catholic Church had
an important role in spreading anti-Semitism using its
publications and mass organizations. Although dependant
on Italy for providing shelter and aid, the Ustashi
organization and its ideology, best mirrored in its anti-
Semitic views and agreement with the “final solution of
the Jewish question”, was closely aligned with Nazism.
Within the Serbian environment, members of the Yugoslav
People’s Movement Zbor played one of the leading
roles in propagating anti-Semitic views. It was the one
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