This summer, 11 Students and two faculty members are traveling to Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia to learn about the 20th-century history of the countries formerly known as Yugoslavia and begin to unravel the complex reverberations of Conflict. Please enjoy this blog post below from Albert ’26 where he reflects on the groups visit to the Jasenovac Memorial Site, where they learned about its tragic past and the resilience of those who suffered there, and carried that message of hope with them as they traveled to Bosnia and reflected on the region’s ongoing divisions.
Wikipedia tells us that “Jasenovac was a concentration and extermination camp established in the village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. The concentration camp, one of the ten largest in Europe, was established and operated by the governing Ustaše regime, Europe’s only Nazi collaborationist regime that operated its own extermination camps, for Serbs, Romani, Jews, and political dissidents.[7] It quickly grew into the third largest concentration camp in Europe.[8]”
The first sight of the Jasenovac Memorial Site was deceptively tranquil. Lakes gleamed softly, and the meticulously trimmed grass stretched toward the horizon. At the heart of this serenity stood a flower-shaped monument reminiscent of a lotus gently opening its petals.
Yet, as our Bosnian guide Ines revealed, just like how lotuses sprout from the mud, under the tranquility of the surface of this landscape lays the weight of the Jasenovac concentration camps. The small hills around us had once been workhouses where individuals were forced into labor under inhumane conditions; the tranquil lakes were once a deep pit of mud and clay where prisoners molded bricks from.
For those who had to suffer here, their average life span in the camp was a mere six months. Yet within the mud and oppression, like a lotus, whatever was left continued to bloom. A quote from inmate Daniel Kovačević illustrates this sentiment: “We hoped that we would get out of that hell one day, and in order to get out, we had to stay alive. We fed on hope and infused it with each other. Every shot at Kozara, every news about our successes in Bosnia and other parts of our country, and news from allied battlefields, gave us the strength to endure.”
Later, as we left Croatia and continued toward Sarajevo, our conversations turned to the complexities of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s divided society. After two border crossings and many hours in the bus, we asked Kiki about current issues that continue to separate Bosnians, Croats, and Serbians. Kiki paused thoughtfully before replying, “I want to give you guys a positive outlook on this country because only through positivity can we move forward.” Her optimism echoed the sentiment of being able to sprout from the mud from earlier at Jasenovac.
In witnessing Jasenovac’s landscape and hearing Kiki’s hopeful reflections, I was reminded of humanity’s enduring capacity to rise from tragedy. This journey has taught us harsh truths, yet it also inspires an optimism powerful enough to cultivate unity.
-Albert ’26