Atrocities in Bosnia

In “Balkan Rivalries, Conflicts” (Aug. 4), you state that “hundreds of thousands of Serbs (were) slaughtered in death camps run by Croatia’s Nazi puppet state during World War II.”

For the sake of truth, proper media information, and for many Yugoslavs of different national backgrounds and political persuasion who live in the Greater Los Angeles area, please note the following:

The Yugoslav Annual Statistical Reports published in Belgrade by the federal government in the more peaceful early ‘80s list the number of Serbs perished in the territories of Croatia and Bosnia as 295,000. In the same territories there were 247,000 victims among the Croats and Muslims. At the very end of the war 75,000 Croatian soldiers and civilians were executed by the Tito government and buried in mass graves (these are recent findings and confirmed only by the Croatian side).

According to the Archives of the Yugoslav Communist Party, about 40,000 people died in the Croatian concentration camp Jasenovac. In the Serbian camp Banjica in Belgrade the number is about 55,000.

“Perished” means died during World War II in many different ways: died in military action (the majority), executed by opposing political parties, died from malnutrition, or just disappeared. Yugoslav demographers estimate that not more than 10% of the war victims were directly executed.

The Jewish war victims (again died in military action, executed, or disappeared) are as follows: Croatia, 16,000; Bosnia, 10,000 and Serbia, 23,000.

ANTHONY M. MLIKOTIN, Professor

Department of Slavic Languages

and Literatures, USC