Testimony of Adolf Friedrich
An excerpt from the book Jasenovac: The Recollections of the Jews, published in 1972. Adolf Friedrich, like most Jasenovac survivors, mentions below the "granik." The granik was quite possibly the most diabolical contribution by the Ustase to the forensics of mass murder. It consisted of a sledgehammer, attached to a length of rope and a pole. The condemned would mount a dais and the executioner would pull the rope, with the sledgehammer coming down like the blade of a guillotine, only to smash the prisoner's skull. According to survivor testimony, the granik was located just a few meters from the banks of the Sava so the bodies, after disembowelment, could be dumped into the river afterward. Hundreds of prisoners were executed by the granik on a nightly basis.
An excerpt from the book Jasenovac: The Recollections of the Jews, published in 1972. Adolf Friedrich, like most Jasenovac survivors, mentions below the "granik." The granik was quite possibly the most diabolical contribution by the Ustase to the forensics of mass murder. It consisted of a sledgehammer, attached to a length of rope and a pole. The condemned would mount a dais and the executioner would pull the rope, with the sledgehammer coming down like the blade of a guillotine, only to smash the prisoner's skull. According to survivor testimony, the granik was located just a few meters from the banks of the Sava so the bodies, after disembowelment, could be dumped into the river afterward. Hundreds of prisoners were executed by the granik on a nightly basis.
Just killing people and leaving it at that would not satisfy the Ustashe. Every few days they would organise mass hangings to be carried out in front of everybody, the whole camp. And so, one day they singled out thirty prisoners and took them to Zvonara [the Bell Tower]. After fourteen days of terrible torture they were hanged in front of the entire camp which was lined up for that purpose. [Dinko] Sakic, the commander, read out the sentence of the irregular court martial, which they were sentenced by because they were accused of being linked with the Partizans. Eight days after this, ten Orthodox Serbs were killed, and five days after that, six electricians. Over this whole period of time they would take old and weak and would lead them out to the Granik.
| :: filing information :: | |
| Title: Testimony of Adolf Friedrich | |
| Source: Jasenovac: The Recollection of the Jews | |
| Date: 1972 | Added: October 2002 |