Vladimir Žerjavić facts for kids

Vladimir Žerjavić (born August 2, 1912 – died September 5, 2001) was an economist and expert in population studies from Croatia. During the 1980s and 1990s, he wrote many articles and books about how many people died in Yugoslavia during World War II. He also studied the number of soldiers and civilians who died in the Bleiburg repatriations right after Germany surrendered. From 1964 to 1982, he worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, helping with industrial development.

Early Life and Career

Vladimir Žerjavić was born in Križ, Zagreb County. He studied economics at the University of Zagreb. He had two sisters, Viktorija and Darinka, and a brother, Slavko.

Before 1934, he worked for private companies. After 1945, he worked for different government groups in SFR Yugoslavia. From 1958 to 1982, he worked outside Yugoslavia as an expert in industry. In 1964, he joined the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. He later advised governments in various countries.

Counting Victims of World War II in Yugoslavia

In the 1980s, Žerjavić researched how many people died in Yugoslavia during World War II. Around the same time, another statistician named Bogoljub Kočović also did similar research.

Žerjavić figured out the total number of victims in Yugoslavia by comparing population counts (censuses) from before and after the war. He stated that Yugoslavia lost a total of 1,027,000 people during World War II.

Žerjavić estimated that 623,000 people died in the Independent State of Croatia. This area included Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time. Another 36,000 people from these countries died abroad.

He provided these estimates for victims in the Independent State of Croatia, including both war and immediate post-war deaths:

• 322,000 Serbs
• 192,000 Croats
• 77,000 Muslims
• 26,000 Jews
• 16,000 Roma

He also claimed that 153,000 civilians died in Croatia and 174,000 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of these, 85,000 from Bosnia and Herzegovina and 48,000 from Croatia died in concentration camps. These were places where people were held against their will, and many died. For the Jasenovac concentration camp, he estimated that 85,000 people were killed. This included 45,000–52,000 Serbs, 13,000 Jews, 10,000 Roma, 10,000 Croats, and 2,000 Muslims.

Regarding Serbs, Žerjavić calculated that 197,000 Serbian civilians died within the borders of the Independent State of Croatia. This included 50,000 at Jasenovac, 25,000 from disease, and others killed by different groups. Another 125,000 Serbs from the Independent State of Croatia died as fighters, bringing the total to 322,000.

After the war, during the events when Yugoslav Partisans pursued those who had worked with the Axis forces, Žerjavić estimated that around 45,000–55,000 Croats and Bosniaks, 8,000–10,000 Slovenes, and about 2,000 Serbs and Montenegrins were killed.

Žerjavić's Views

Žerjavić's research, like that of Kočović, aimed to show that the total number of lives lost in World War II in Yugoslavia was often exaggerated. This exaggeration was partly due to the Yugoslav government's claims for money after the war.

Žerjavić believed that Serbs and Croats could live peacefully together. He also mentioned that many Croats helped Serbs during the war. He stated that revenge for crimes was carried out right after the war, with terrible events like the massacres at Bleiburg. He hoped that people would realize that living together in a peaceful country was the best solution.

How His Work Was Seen

Positive Feedback

Some international groups and experts have accepted Žerjavić's calculations as the most reliable numbers for war losses in Yugoslavia during World War II. His data was very similar to that of Serbian statistician Bogoljub Kočović.

A U.S. Census report from 1954 suggested that the actual number of dead was around one million. An American study in 1954 calculated 1,067,000 deaths.

After Tito died in 1980, the results of the 1948 census became available. Professor Kočović published his findings in 1985, estimating 1,014,000 deaths. Later that year, a conference heard that the figure was 1,100,000.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum accepted Žerjavić's and Kočović's calculations, along with other higher estimates. They noted that estimates for Serbian victims in Croatia vary widely. They stated that the most reliable figures for Serbs killed by the Ustaša (a political movement) are between 330,000 and 390,000. For Jasenovac, they estimated 45,000 to 52,000 Serbs were killed.

Historian Ivo Goldstein also said that Žerjavić's research on the number of deaths related to the Bleiburg repatriations is the most reliable.

Negative Feedback

Some Serb critics believed Žerjavić's work was politically motivated. They thought he aimed to make the number of Croatian nationalist crimes during the war seem smaller, especially at Jasenovac.

Critics pointed out that Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia lived in rural areas and had a higher birth rate. They claimed Žerjavić might have underestimated the growth rate of Serbs to lower the number of Serb deaths. Some, like Đorđević, claimed that Serbian losses were actually 1.6 million, which is much higher than official estimates. Bogoljub Kočović later wrote a book in 1997 to challenge Đorđević's higher numbers.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center and Yad Vashem, important organizations that remember the Holocaust, still use older estimates given by the Yugoslav authorities. The Encyclopedia of the Holocaust from Yad Vashem mentions the killing of "over 500,000" Serbs in the entire Independent State of Croatia.

Croatian historian Vladimir Geiger noted that some researchers disagree with Žerjavić's methods. They argue that counting victims by individual names is more accurate than using general statistical methods. They believe Žerjavić's approach might not be enough to determine the exact number and type of casualties.

Counting Victims of the Bosnian War

Žerjavić also calculated the number of victims in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the Bosnian war from 1992–95. He estimated 215,000 victims in total: 160,000 Bosniaks, 30,000 Croats, and 25,000 Serbs.

However, newer research by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found a different number. They estimated around 102,000 people were killed in the Bosnian war. This included 69.24% (70,625) Bosniaks, 25.35% (25,857) Serbs, and 5.33% (5,437) Croats.