Dr. MILAN BULAJIC's CONFUSION WITH NUMBERS OF VICTIMS
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN YUGOSLAVIA

Response to dr.Bulajic on his writing on Internet of April 8, 1998

Writen by Vladimir Zerjavic, M.Sc., retiree of UN

First of all I want to state that I never said that I am against an international commission of experts for establishing the truth about Jasenovac. In fact, at the International Conference organized by the Holocaust Resource Center Kingsborough Community College in New York on October 3O and 3l, 1997. I supported such a Commission to be set up, in opposition to your proposal, that "experts from of any new state created in this area (meant former Yugoslavia) be excluded from such Commission"! The President of the Conference dr.Bernard Klein, also disagreed with proposal of dr.Bulajic.

I handed over to dr.Klein my studies in order to check the accuracy of my calculations of the losses of population of Yugoslavia during the WW2. In my study I applied two methods: a) standard demographic statistical method, based on the official data on the number of born and dead, as well as on the censuses of population in 1921 and 193l before the war, and census of March l5, 1948 after the war, which is regularly applied in demographic studies. In addition, I applied method b) by collection of the data about the persons who lost their lives, mostly recorded by names, published in l4O monographies, listed in my book. The details have been done for the whole Yugoslavia, for each republic and two provinces, and by nationalities, so that everybody could check comparative results obtained.

The main purpose of my study, was to prove that the losses of population during WW2, on the prewar territory of Yugoslavia, wich were estimated in the year 1946 and reported to the International Reparation Commission with l,7O6,000, are not correct, since these estimates have been made before the census of survived population has been done. The first census of population after the war has been made on March l5, 1948. Dr.Bulajic knows well that USA demographers Paul Mayers and Arthur Campbel in their study: "The Population in Yugoslavia", issued by Bureau of Census in Washington D.C. in year 1954, calculated losses of lives with 1.O67.000, and dr. Bogoljub Kocovic, who in the year 1985. published in London "Zrtve drugog svetskog rata u Jugoslaviji" (Victims of the WW2 in Yugoslavia) calculated the number of l,014,000. In my study "Losses of population in Yugoslavia during WW2", I calculated, not estimated, with the number of l,O27,000.

Further, dr.Bulajic knows that in the year 1947. dr. Dolfe Vogelnik, director of the Federal Bureau of Statistics in Belgrade, gave in the year 1947 the task to the student of matematics Vladeta Vuckovic, honorary working in this Bureau, to calculate the WW2 losses in order to provide documentation for the Reparation Commission in Paris, because this was not done in the year 1946. Vladeta Vuckovic, as he stated in the serbian periodical "NASA REC" (Our word) in London No.368 of October 1985, and in Belgrade periodical "DUGA" No.4l2. 9-23. December 1989, has calculated demographic losses at l,700,000, which dr. Kardelj, then the second highest official, after Tito, falsely presented to the Reparation Commission in Paris as the losses of lives, while actual lossses, according to Vuckovic, amounted to one million only! Dr. Dolfe Vogelnik, and other Slovenian Alojz Debevc, as well as the Serb D.Tasic, though being experienced demograpohers, did not want to undetake this task, because there was not yet made the census of the survived population and they did not want to discredit themselves! However, all three of them bear the responsability for this dishonest deed!

In his newest statement on Internet dr.Bulajic is saying:"Mr.Zerjavic and Mr.Kocovic do not belong to demographic experts of such caliber like their predecesors Vogelnik and Lah"! Dr. Bulajic puts at the same "caliber" Vogelnik and Lah, though he kows well, that Ivo Lah completely disproved dr. Vogelnik's calculations of demographic losses of 2,840,000 at lower variant, and 3.250.000 at higher variant only for period l941 to 1948, applying rates of growth of l,84 and 2,14 percent per year, while officially recorded growth rate by Vogelnik's statistical office in 1939. amounted to only 1,1 per cent! And Ivo Lah stated, in the periodical "Statistical review" No.2-3 year 1952., that "Yugoslavia never had such a high growth rate in the past, and will never have in the future". Dr.Vogelnik never later tried to disprove Ivo Lah, because he incorrectly increased the rate, as he did with Vladeta Vuckovic study, collaborating with dr.Kardelj, in order to make higher population losses than actually they were. I am asking dr.Bulajic how he could, at all, compare demographer like dr.Vogelnik, who is prepared to do dishonest job, just to please higher government officials, with profesionally honest one like Ivo Lah!? I.Lah calculated demographic losses l,863,000, the same as friend of dr.Bulajic, i.e. dr.Dragutin Grupkovic, present director of the Statistical bureau of SR Yugoslavia, who - according to POLITIKA SVET, Exclusive No.1.of April 1991, on the Occasion of opening of victim museum in Belgrade stated - that demographic losses amount between l,750,000 to 2,000,000, or medium l,875,000!!

As it is known to the demographers, using statistical method, one should calculate fist demographic losses from which should be deducted losses due to war circumstances, i.e. lower natality rate, and higher mortality rate, and people who emigrated out of the country. It is known that only in Germany there were as forced labor about 600 thousand people, and about 200 thousand prisoners of war and about 100 thousand in Italy. Besides, young people at fertile age have been recruited in various armies in the country civil war, and civilian not having proper feeding and health services. These losses, by all demographers, are estimated at about 350 thousand, while about 65O thousand emigrated among them about 450 Germans, who lived in Yugoslavia. Consequently, after defining demographic losses, they should be decreased by about one million, to get actual total losses of lives of population of Yugoslavia. Since demographic losses amount l,875,000 to 2,000,000, this would imply that losses of lives during WW2 in Yugoslavia could amount from about 875 thousand to one million. According to my calculations, demographic losses amount to 2,022,000 and actual losss of lives to l,O27,000.

Now dr.Bulajic wants to disqualify standard demographic statistical method as one which cannot provide accurate results for lost lives. He believes that only censuses of victims could provide right figure. We know that census conducted on territories of the whole Yugoslavia by Republics and Provinces Commissions in the year 1946 did not give satisfactory results for victims of the war, and for this reason they were never published. We are also acquainted with the case of census of soldiers killed on the side of national liberation army and of the civilians victims of the war, carried out by Federal statistical bureau in Belgrad in the year 1964 on the request of Germany, because they did not want to pay reparation of l,7 million lost lives, as presented to the International Reparation ofice in Paris in the year 1946. Only in November l989 it was disclosed to public, by two journalists of the periodical DANAS (T0DAY), after 25 years of its hiding in the YUGOSLAV ARHIVE as government secret! What is important here to underline, is the engagement of the whole governmental machinery to get through this census the number which was reported to the Reparation Commission in year 1946, i.e. 1,706,000. However, when the first collected data were in Belgrade summarized, among the official arose the consternation, because the total number amounted to less than 550,000. The registration lists were returned to check again on the terrain, but final figure amounted to only 597.323 lost lives of soldiers and of civilians, without lost lives of occupators and their collaborators. Could the loss of occupators and their collaborators, who were better equiped, be higher, i.e.to amount to 910 thousand? No, this was unthinkable. The problem is in the coverage on the terrain. Civil war left behind completely demolished villages, many people changed their place of living, 260 thousand, mostly Serbs have moved from all republics and Province Kosovo to houses emptied by Germans in the Province of Vojvodina, so on the terrain could not be found people who could provide information about the missing people. Even in the year 1946, i.e. one year after the war the collection of data, for similar resons could not be complete. This is clear to everybody, except to dr.Bulajic, who insists even after 50 years to make new census, which - according to him - would provide more complete data on lost lives, than could be done by statistical method.

In the previous Internet writings, dr.Bulajic said that 597,323 people recorded, by census in 1964, amounts to only 56 to 59 percent of totally lost lives, and this then would mean that he agrees that total losses of lives amount to about one million, as calculated by Mayers & Campbel, dr.Kocovic and myself!

Why he then quotes German sources, Serbian Ortodox Church and many others who asserts that right number is 700 thousand killed Serbs, mostly in Jasenovac. Everyone, who knows how the civil war was conducted - some places were overtaken and abandoned several times - know well, that more lives were lost in the villages than in the camps. And this is exactly possible to establish from the monographies I used in my determination of losses in villages and camps. These monographs are prepared for settlements of Serbs by serbian authors, so I took them as accurate. In many cases I had two or three sources for the same district, and I took the highest number - what could be clearly seen from my book - in order to avoid any complaints that I tried to diminish the losses. Because of that, I stated that, eventually, the losses calculated by me, could actually be even lower than shown in my book!

If it is agreed that total losses in Yugoslavia during WW2 amount to about one million and that in Jasenovac lost lives of Serbs, Romanies and Jews amount to 700 thousand, then remain only 300 thousand for all other losses in the NDH i.e. Croatia, Bosnia and Srijem, and all other republics and Provinces. Since on the territory of NDH other losses of Serbs, Croats and Muslim occured: as liberation army soldiers l39 thousand, 2O thousand Serbs were taken to German camp in Zemun, 25 thousand died of typhus, 45 thousand were killed by Germans and 15 thousand by Italians, 148 thousand civilians were killed in villages during battles among partisans, chetnicks, ustashas and domobrans and after the war near Bleiburg and "death march" 55 thousand,which totally amount to 393 thousand. And the losses of other republics are: Montenegro 37 thousand, Macedonia l7 thousand, Slovenia 33 thousand, Serbia proper l67 thousand, Vojvodina without Srijem 56 thousand, Kosovo 23 thousand, and abroad 80 thousand, i.e. another 413 thousand! This shows that the losses would be: 700 plus 393 plus 413 or total of l.506.000!! So this account shows surplus of over 500 thousand, above determined losses by standard demografic statistical method!

Another account to show that on the territory of NDH were not lost lives of 700 thousand or more than one million Serbs, could be done this way (in thousand):

                                B & H      Croatia     Srijem       Total

Official census 3l.3.193l.      1,013          622        155       1,790
Official census l5.3.1948.      1,136          528        165       1,829
Difference:                   +   123        -  94       + 10      +   39

It should be noted that in the year 1946/47 Serbs emigrated within federal colonisation action to settle on the abandoned property of Germans in Vojvodina: 94 thousand from B&H and 60 thousand from Croatia, and that 75 thousand Muslims in census 1948 declared themself as Serbs.

Dr.Bulajic quoted that in B&H "Conference of the Socialist aliance" of May 1989 he found 453,877 victims. Since the State Commission for establishment of crimes committed by occupaying forces and their collaborators in census carried in 1946 established only l74,084 victims - excluding soldiers and collaborators - according to Djordje Pejanovic, in his book entitled: The population of B&H, Naucna knjiga, Belgrade 1955., and in already mentioned census done l964. on the request of Germans, established only 177.045 victims of war including that of soldiers, dr. Bulajic should explain how such a big difference could occur? If we take that census done 19 years after the war is incomplete, and covered only 59%, this would bring instead 177,045 a corrected number of about 3OO thousand of total live losses, while my amount to 316 thousand. How a Conference in 1989, i.e. 44 years after the war, could do better census, than it was done in l946, and 1964.? It is obvious that figure of 453,877 lost lives in B&H is absolutely un-realable. Dr.Bulajic states that there are missing some localities like Foca, Livno, Glamoc, Nevesinje, Stolac, Trebinje, etc. However, in my book published l989. (Prilog II.10.1.page 172/3), he could find for each of these localities the exact data about the lost lives of soldiers and victims, which I listed from the published monographs of various authors.

Concerning losses as consequnce of Ofensive of German forces joined by ustashas, domobrans and chetnicks against the partisans from June 10 to 3l July 1942, on the area of 7 municipalities, later called National Park Kozara, I got the data directly from that Institution by the letter of l3.6.l988. Besides, I quoted in my book also data for each 7 municipalities (see Prilog II.10.1.page 172/3), on the basis of which I increased the total number by l,680 to 11 thousand of soldiers and 35 thousand of victims, from original 9,922 and 33,398. The difference could apear if NPK later increased its area, but then they could be found in my records for added localities.

Concerning dr.Bulajic writing: "so far it has been established that from April l941 to May 1945 in the Nazi-Ustasha Croatia 74,360 children - of average 7 years - were killed", without mentioning where are so many children killed, is an unbelivable statement. On what localities are so many children killed? Since for Croatia, I have data for each cummunity, and for B&H 80 percent the biggest, I cannot imagine where they could be killed. No one documents so far has mentioned something about such mass killing of children. Could this be the number of all children who lost lives on the territory of NDH?

Only a Special Edition of BORBA, Belgrade, February 1988, published under the title: "Redni broj mrtvih" (The Ordinal Number of Dead) provided the names of 11,219 children presumably killed among the 68 thousand captives in the Ofensive Kozara from June 10 to July 3l,l942. According to this publication 5,683 died in camp Jasenovac, 2.474 in the place of residence and the remainder in other areas in Croatia. As dr.Bulajic himself states, some of these children have been saved either in the children camp Jastrebarsko (960 of them) and some were taken by families, not only through effort of dr.Kamila Bresler and Diana Budisavljevic, but also at least thousand have been saved by other families, mostly in Zagreb but also in villages of Slavonia. Dr.Bulajic worries more of their eventually lost Serbian identity, than for saving their life. Really, very human from him! I know several families, who have taken those children, which were free after the war to return to their parents or relatives, and of course they could change the religion at their wish. To many thousand of adult Serbs and several hundred of Jews whom catholic church saved their life! Do you, dr.Bulajic, think that is more human what did Serbian Mitropolit Josif Cvijovic, who forbade to Jews temporary change to orthodox religion, and because of that all lost their lives!! According to records of Yad Vashem 94 percent of Jews perished in Serbia, and only 75 percent of Jews in NDH!!

Dr.Bulajic does not know that about 12 to 15 thousand citizens of Zagreb, including myself, have from autumn 1941 till end of 1943 provided supply of food, clothing, medicaments and other requirements for their relatives and friends partisans, while army supply came from domobrans - as reported to the Commissariat in Belgrade by Rastko Krnjaic, District official of Bosanska Dubica, after his reliese from camp Jaseovac (see Archieric Synod book, pp.131-136) - without which they would not be able to survive till supply from the side of western alliance came to them beginning of 1944! Dr.Bulajic, knows well, that except for two months, from August to October 1941. the NOP (National Liberation Movement) guided by Tito, did not get support in Serbia, and therefore already in November 1941 moved on the territory of NDH where the main battles took place, till October 2O, 1944 when, with the help of Russian and Bulgarian Army Belgrade was liberated. Only then most of the chetnicks and other Serbians took part in the last 7 months of the war against Germans, with whom general Nedic, and chetnicks of Ljotic, Pecanac and Mihajlovic for 3 years collaborated on teritory of Serbia and fought against partisans on the territory of NDH. While forces of the chetnik priest Momcilo Djujic in Dalmatia, Western Bosnia and Hercegowina collaborated with Italians till their capitulation in September 1943 and after that with Germans.

Dr.Bulajic wants through Internet inform the public in foreign countries, that only Serbs have fought against occupators, and that all losses in the NDH suffered only Serbs. However, according to my detailed analyses and presentation in my two books, (first published in 1989 under the title: "Population Losses in Yugoslavia during WW2", and second published in 1992, under title: "Opsesions and Megalomania about Jasenovac and Bleiburg"), in the civil war, the total losses in NDH were: 322 thousand Serbs, 255 thousand Croats and Muslims, 20 thousand Jews and 16 thousand Romanies. According to official census, there were registered only l6 thousand Romanies. Since I have recorded all population of NDH, if Romanies declared them under other nationalities, then their losses are shown under those nationalities.

Dr.Bulajic stated, also, that there were genocide crimes done on the localities of Visegrad, Foca, but these crimes have done chetnicks - including Cajnice - on Muslims, adults and children, where about 10 thousand have perished only in the beginning of 1942. On other localities in Herzegowina, like Livno, Glamoc, Ljubuski, Nevesinje, Stolac and Trebinje, as well as in Dalmatia, Lika and Kordun, chetnicks of Momcilo Djujic, supplied by food and ammunitions by Italians, raided Croatian settlements killing all whom they found. Therefore, so many Croatians, from these areas, joined partisans. Chetnicks of Djujic killed also 1,500 Serbs who joined partisans! Djujic offered Italians to include these areas to Italy!! Chetnicks, during the war, in Croatia and B&H killed l8 thousand Croatians and 29 thousand Muslims!

In my earlier statemant on the Internet, I quoted the crimes at the place Bleiburg on the boarder with Austria, against the Croatian, and Slovenian collaborators with the occupators, who surrendered to British military forces after 8th May 1945, when WW2 ended. Military and civilians, over hundred thousand and of them, wanted to get exile in western countries, because they did not want to stay in Yugoslavia under communist regime. However, according to previously made agreement, british forces have given them over to Tito's army, which brutaly killed them by throwing into pits and tortured them on the so called "Way of Death" by hunger and thirst. So lost their lives about 10,000 Slovenians, 55.000 Croatians. This punishment, particularly of Croatians, is justified with crimes committed in the concentration camp Jasenovac.

Dr.Bulajic never, until recently, commented these crimes. However, at the International Court of Justice in Den Haag, on April 26-27 1998, he stated that "THE SERBIAN REVOLT IN YEAR 1991/2 AGAINST CROATIA AND BOSNIA & HERZEGOWINA IS RESULT OF CRIMES IN JASENOVAC DURING WORLD WAR 1941-1945"!? This is only the screen, to hide the actual goal planned 150 years ago by Serb Garasanin to creat Great Serbia, which was openly stated by Slobodan Milosevic at Gazimestan in June 1989 while celebrating 600-years of battle with Turks. Namely, he said that he will use institutional and uninstitutional measures, and if necessary even military force, to get all Serbs of Yugoslavia in one Serbian State! As previously mentioned, dr.Bulajic and serbian polititians, writers and others already for over 3O years, i.e. from 1964 when census showed that victims in Yugoslavia during WW2 do not amount 1,7 million, but only one million, this fact they were hiding, so that they could further assert that in Jasenovac were killed at least 700 thousand Serbs! So this plan has been layed down for long in order to justify Serbian aggresion on Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegowina, which caused in Croatia the loss of lives of l2 thousand and 27 billion dollars of damages, and in B&H, over 150 thousand lost lives and 60 billion dolars of damage, and over 2 million refuges!

So dr.Bulajic's statement in Den Haag was false and hypocritical because he did not say the truth, that already 5O years ago the punishment for crimes in Jasenovac has been executed, even on the half of 55 thousand inocent civilians, who did not do any crimes, but only did not want to live under communistic regime.

Since Mr.Antun Miletic, Senior Military Researcher and President of the Association of Genocide and War Crime Stydies, on the International Conference at the Kingsborogh College New York on 3O. October 1997 - which I personally also attended - stated in writing, that according to his investigation, in the camp Jasenovac have been killed total 77,200 victims of which 41,936 Serbs, Gypsies 17.500, Jews l3.055, Croats 3.400, Muslims 805 and other 304 - , this proves that more Croats have been killed after the war ended, than Serbs during the war in Jasenovac.

If we judge the crimes done by chetnicks to 47 thousand Muslims and Croats during the war, and 55 thousand after the war done by Tito's Army composed mostly of Serbs, like Sima Dubajic - who publicly stated that he himeself killed 3O thousand Croats - then we see that crimes done by Serbs are even greater than that of ustashas installed in Croatia by foreign occupators! Also that they have been done in the same cruel manner as it was done in Jasenovac! Consequently, dr.Bulajic's purposly done omission to mention these crimes, shows his partiality in judgement of crimes on Serbs and that done to other nations! He does not recognize the crimes done to Croats and Muslims during 1941 to 1945, and wants to jutify the new crimes done by aggression on Croatia and B&H during 1991 to 1995.

Even he does a false statement in front of judges in Den Haag, naming the open aggression on Croatia and B&H in 199l-1995 as a revolt for crimes done 5O years earlier!!

It should be noted here that dr.Bulajic himself, on the Conference in New York mentioned the same figure as Mr.Miletic. So, I really wonder if after more than 53 years of investigation, there could be found many more killed. My data for camp Jasenovac are as follows: 48 -52 thousand Serbs, 13 thousand Jews, 12 thousand Croats and 10 thousand Romanies, i.e. total of about 85 thousand. So I have about 10 percent more victims, and I am sure this is the maximal number.

Therefore, I think it would be more resonable for dr.Bulajic to stop his unjustified propaganda against Croatia, because all objective readers could see that his exageration of number of victims in the camp of Jasenovac is completely beyond any reality. And in any way he could not justify the aggresion l99l to l995 on Croatia and B&H as well as casualities and damages entailed on the territories of these two Republics. Also this aggresion has been condemned by United Nations!!

Zagreb, May 11, 1998

Written and PC-edited by the author.

Back to Inventions and lies of Dr Bulajic on Internet