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Srbosjek

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The srbosjek was worn over the hand and was used by the Ustaše militia for the quick slaughter of inmates in concentration camps.

Srbosjek (literally "Serb cutter" in Croatian and Serbian, often referred to as "cutthroat") was a specially designed knife used by the Ustaše during World War II for the speedy killing of prisoners in the concentration camps of the Nazi-puppet Independent State of Croatia (NDH), most notably the Jasenovac concentration camp. The victims were Serbs, Jews, and Roma, imprisoned on 'ethnic' grounds, and significant numbers of Croats, imprisoned on the grounds that they were Partisan resistance members, or on the suspicion of taking part in anti-fascist activities.[1]

Preferring to cut the throats of their concentration camp prisoners instead of gassing them, the Ustaše required a special tool. The knife was manufactured during World War II by German factory Gebrüder Gräfrath from Solingen-Widderit under a special order from the NDH government.[2]. Gebrüder Gräfrath was taken over in 1961 by Hubertus Solingen [3].

The upper part of the srbosjek was made of leather, as a sort of a glove, designed to be worn with the thumb going through the hole, so that only the blade protruded from the hand. It was a curved, 12 cm long knife with the edge on its concave side. The knife was fastened to a bowed oval copper plate, while the plate was fastened to a thick leather bangle. There was inscription "Gräwiso" on the leather part of the knife, and the knife was also known as the 'graviso knife' because of this. The blade was curved in order to make it easier to slit the throat of the victim, following the curvature of the neck.[2][4][5] Thus, the Srbosjek knife was designed to kill as fast as possible and with as little fatigue as possible.[6]

In the Jasenovac concentration camp competitions in speedy slaughter were organized by the Ustaše. The winner of one such competition, Petar Brzica slit the throats of 1,360 prisoners.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ David M. Kennedy, Margaret E. Wagner, Linda Barrett Osborne, Susan Reyburn, The Library of Congress World War II Companion (Simon and Schuster, 2007), pages 640, 646-47, page 683:

    At Jasenovac, a series of camps in Croatia, the ultranationalist, right-wing Ustasha murdered Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, Muslims, and political opponents not by gassing, but with hand tools or the infamous graviso or srbosjek (literally, "Serb cutter") - a long, curved knife attached to a partial glove and designed for rapid, easy killing.
  2. ^ a b Vladimir Dedijer (Editor), Harvey L. Kendall (Translator), The Yugoslav Auschwitz and the Vatican: The Croatian Massacre of the Serbs During World War II (Prometheus Books. July 1992)
  3. ^ http://www.888knivesrus.com/category/.allbrands.hubertussolingen/
  4. ^ Taborišče smrti--Jasenovac by Nikola Nikolić (author), Jože Zupančić (translator),Založba "Borec", Ljubljana 1969
    The knife described on page 72: 'Na koncu noža, tik bakrene ploščice, je bilo z vdolbnimi črkami napisano "Grafrath gebr. Solingen", na usnju pa reliefno vtisnjena nemška tvrtka "Graeviso" '
    Picture of the knife with description on page 73: 'Posebej izdelan nož, ki so ga ustaši uporabljali pri množičnih klanjih. Pravili so mu "kotač" - kolo - in ga je izdelovala nemška tvrtka "Graeviso" '
  5. ^ Für die Richtigkeit: Kurt Waldheim by Hanspeter Born Schneekluth, 1987 ISBN 3795110556, 9783795110550, page 65
    Beliebt war das sogar wettbewerbsmäßig organisierte Kehledurchschneiden mit einem speziellen Krumm-messer Marke Gräviso.
  6. ^ Dr Mladen Colic, Takozvana NDH, (Deltapres, Beograd 1973)
  7. ^ Howard Blum, Wanted! : The Search for Nazis in America, (Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co. 1977).

Bibliography

  • Ladislaus Hory and Martin Broszat: Der kroatische Ustascha-Staat, 1941-1945, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt Stuttgart, 1964
  • Dave Hunt: Die Frau und das Tier Geschichte, Gegenwart und Zukunft der römischen Kirche © 1994 by Dave Hunt, Herausgegeben von Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon - Das Abschlachten der Serben Chapter, pages 289-301
  • The Vatican's Holocaust by Avro Manhattan Ozark Books 1988 or online
  • 44 mjeseca u Jasenovcu by Egon Berger Publisher: Graficki Zavod Hrvatske, Zagreb 1966
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