Richard Newell, a PhD candidate at the University of Graz currently living in Sarajevo and researching the legacy of the Holocaust in the Western Balkans, has published an extensive column for the prominent newspaper The Times of Israel.
In his article, he directly addressed recent statements made by Milorad Dodik, president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), during his visit to Washington, concerning the role of Bosniaks in the Second World War.
As Newell explains at the outset, during his lobbying trip Dodik presented a series of claims about the Holocaust in the former Yugoslavia, with what the author describes as a clear political objective, the destabilization of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to Newell, Dodik’s statements selectively emphasize certain aspects of local history in an attempt to win sympathy from the U.S. administration, reducing the narrative to accusations that Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) were “enthusiastic supporters and participants in the Holocaust.”
“It is important to fully address these claims because, despite the common Balkan saying that ‘lies have short legs,’ half-truths, myths, and the misuse of history, especially that of the Holocaust, continue to abound in this region,” Newell writes.
Bloody Legacy of the NDH and the Chetnik Movement
In the remainder of the article, Newell outlines the complex historical context of the Second World War in the region. He recalls that Serbs, Jews, and Roma were victims of genocide carried out by the Ustasha authorities in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), whose brutality shocked even Nazi officials. He references the infamous Ustasha plan for the Serbs, to kill one third, forcibly convert one third, and expel one third, and notes that more than 1,000 Bosnian Muslims who opposed the regime were killed in the Jasenovac concentration camp.
The British historian also addresses the complexity of wartime military formations. While a minority of Croats joined the Partisan movement from the outset, Serbs were divided between Tito’s Partisans and royalist Chetniks. Newell notes that Chetnik forces frequently massacred Bosniak civilians, particularly in the Srebrenica area, a pattern that re-emerged in the 1990s, and that, as they increasingly cooperated with German forces, they adopted pronounced antisemitic positions, handing Jews over to the Wehrmacht or killing them themselves, often with the support of the quisling government of Milan Nedić in Belgrade.
When discussing Bosniaks, Newell does not avoid difficult historical facts. He recalls that brothers Osman and Džafer Kulenović served as vice presidents of the Ustasha state, and that Bosniaks formed the backbone of the “Black Legion” as well as the Waffen-SS “Handschar” Division. However, he emphasizes that the Handschar Division never met Nazi recruitment expectations, despite the visit of Jerusalem’s Grand Mufti Amin al-Husseini to Sarajevo.
“Dodik’s remarks are not without some historical basis,” Newell writes, “but they deliberately omit a crucial part of the story, one that deserves to be told. Beyond those who supported the Ustasha regime, Bosniaks were present in the Partisan movement. Many chose the path of open resistance to the Ustasha and the Nazis. These are the stories we wish to end with.”
Muslim Resolutions, the Sarajevo Haggadah, and the Righteous Among the Nations
Newell then highlights examples of civic courage. He recalls the Muslim Resolutions of late 1941, in which Muslim leaders condemned Ustasha violence against Serbs and Jews and demanded an end to the bloodshed.
He notes that more than one hundred documented cases of rescuing Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina exist today. Among them is Derviš Korkut, who saved the Sarajevo Haggadah and sheltered a Jewish girl, as well as the Hardaga family, who rescued the Kabilijo family. Fifty years later, during the Siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s, the Kabilijo family returned the favor by helping the Hardaga family to relocate to Israel.
Newell writes that 49 individuals from Bosnia and Herzegovina have been recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations- 28 of them were Bosniaks, while most of the others were Bosnian Serbs. Given the country’s small population at the time, he describes this as a remarkably high number. Nevertheless, he stresses that the history of the Holocaust in Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be viewed solely through the lens of rescuers.
“The true tragedy mirrors that of the rest of Europe: in 1941, Bosnia and Herzegovina had approximately 14,000 Jews. By 1945, 12,000 were dead,” Newell writes.
The Danger of Modern Revisionism
In the concluding section, Newell addresses contemporary concerns, warning that the ideology which led to these crimes has not entirely disappeared. He points to a recent concert by Croatian singer Marko Perković Thompson in Herzegovina, where alleged Nazi salutes were recorded, while prompting strong condemnation from Israeli Ambassador Galit Peleg.
He notes that Thompson’s ultranationalist positions, reflected in lyrics referencing the Holocaust in Croatia, have been reported by The Times of Israel in the past. His repertoire has included songs praising the Jasenovac camp and the activities of the Black Legion. Local police are reportedly investigating whether Nazi gestures were displayed during the concert.
At the same time, Newell commends contemporary relations between Jews and Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, citing joint commemorations of the Srebrenica genocide and the Holocaust, as well as the apology issued by Srebrenica Memorial Center director Emir Suljagić for crimes committed by Bosniaks against Jews.
“While the glorification of the Ustasha in certain parts of Croatian society is overt and easily identifiable, the distortion of Holocaust history in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be more subtle and harder to counter,” Newell concludes. “In a world that has grown more antisemitic following the Hamas attacks of October 7, the political use of half-truths about the Holocaust, what IHRA defines as Holocaust distortion, will likely continue to cause further harm.”
