Description
The system of concentration and death camps in Jasenovac represents the most shocking paradigm of Serbian suffering during World War II (1941-1945). The genocidal policy of the Independent State of Croatia directed against the Serbian, Jewish and Roma people manifested itself in its most tragic form at the most massive execution ground of the occupied Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During the 1337 days of the death camp’s existence, crimes were recorded that remain unfathomable to the human mind even to this day.
April 22, 1945 is the day when the last Jasenovac prisoners stormed to freedom. In the last days of the Jasenovac camp, a group of inmates was formed under the leadership of Ante Bakotić who, in secret, on the night between April 21 and 22, devised a breakout plan. On Sunday, April 22, 1945, at 10 am, at Bakotić’s signal, the inmates broke through the doors and windows of the barracks and surprised the camp guards. About six hundred desperate people rushed through the cleared space towards the southeastern gate, suffering significant losses from the guards who were firing at them from machine gun nests. In the chaotic circumstances Mile Ristić, one of the inmates, managed to seize a machine gun and return fire, thus providing protection for the participants in the breakout.
The survivors, having made their way through the southeast gate, headed for the forests where they found refuge and freedom.
Motifs on the stamp, vignette and envelope: Holy New Martyrs of Jasenovac, the work of the nun Marija, depicted with the consent of the His Grace Bishop Jovan of Pakrac and Slavonia.
Professional cooperation: Museum of Genocide Victims and the Diocese of Pakrac and Slavonia, Serbian Orthodox Church.
Graphic realization: MA Anamari Banjac, Academic Painter
