“St. Bartholomew’s Night” of Banja Luka: The Ustasha Crime against the Serbs in the Banja Luka Area on 7 February 1942

Abstract

Based on the preserved and accessible sources from seven archives and from the relevant literature, the authors seek to reconstruct the causes, course and consequences of the crime committed by the Ustashas against the Serbs of the villages of Drakulić, Šargovac and Motike, and in the Rakovac mine, near Banja Luka on 7 February 1942. The authors attempt to point to the main instigators and perpetrators of the crime and to estimate the number of victims. For understanding the broader context of the events, they point out the ideological roots and main features of the genocidal policy pursued by the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) against the Serbs from 1941 to 1945. Special attention is paid to the events in the area of Banja Luka during 1941, because they provided the chronological and spatial context for the crime that followed in February 1942.