Balkan Genocides

Paul Mojzes is professor of religious studies at Rosemont College. He is the author of several books on Eastern Europe and the Balkans and editor of Religion in Eastern Europe and The Journal of Ecumenical Studies.

• PrefacePronunciation GuideChapter 1: Definitions of Genocides and Ethnic CleansingChapter 2: Heritage of HorrorsChapter 3: Balkan Wars 1912-1913: An Unrecognized GenocideThe Carnegie Commission’s ConclusionEpilogue: World War I as the Third Balkan WarGreek-Turkish WarsChapter 4 – Multiple Genocides of World War II: Western BalkansPreliminary Philosophical and Theological ConcernsGenocide in the “Independent State of Croatia”Genocidal Aspects of Italian Occupational Authorities in Yugoslav LandsSloveniaBosnia and HerzegovinaChapter 5: Multiple Genocides in World War II: Northeastern and Central BalkansBelgrade and Serbia ProperBacka and Baranja Under Hungarian OccupationThe Fate of the Yugoslav Army’s Jewish POWsMontenegroAlbania and KosovoMassacres and Ethnic Cleansing by CetniksGenocide Against Romas (Gypsies)Chapter 6: Multiple Genocides in World War II: Southeastern BalkansBulgarian Jews Not Deported to Death CampsMacedoniaGreece under German, Italian, and Bulgarian OccupationChapter 7: Retaliatory Genocide against Wartime EnemiesGenocide of Yugoslavia’s Ethnic GermansMassacres of HungariansEthnic Cleansing of ItaliansBleiburg and the Fate of Ustaše and Other Militaries Collaborating with the AxisChapter 8: Ethnic Cleansing during Yugoslavia’s Wars of Disintegration in the 1990sThe ContextContentious Analytical IssuesChapter 9: War in CroatiaOverview of the WarWas it Genocide and/or Ethnic Cleansing?Chapter 10: War in Bosnia and HerzegovinaProblems Leading to the WarMajor Events of the WarThe Horrors of Ethnic CleansingThe Srebrenica GenocideGenocidal RapeDid Genocide Occur in Bosnia and Herzagovina?AppendixChapter 11: Protracted War and Conflict in KosovoOverview of Serbian-Albanian Relationships in Kosovo, 1945—1999 Overview of the War, 1999Destruction of Serbian Orthodox Holy PlacesEthnic Cleansing in ReverseDid Genocide and/or Ethnic Cleansing Occur?Chapter 12: International Criminal Tribunal for Former YugoslaviaChapter 13—Onward into the Twenty-first Century: A PostscriptThreat of Genocide Averted in MacedoniaProspects for the BalkanTime LineNotesBibliographyIndexAbout the Author

Mojzes's book concerns ethnic cleansing or genocide in the Balkans three separate times in the 20th century. He bases his analysis on both primary and secondary sources, and the scope of the work as a whole is one of a region where violence built from one generation to the next. His research on the Balkan Wars (1912-13) is valuable, for while that series of conflicts has been told before, Mojzes (religious studies, Rosemont College) focuses on the killing between ethnic groups that is chilling and distinct from Great Power politics. From that point, it did not take much ignition from the Nazis to spark genocide in the region during WW II. Mojzes's discussion of the Jasenovac camps, both what the sources and the partisan politicians recount, is instructive. The author concludes with a glimpse into the genocide as Yugoslavia was breaking up, and the complexity of how to sort through such bestial killing both legally and morally. This study includes important details for scholars and students....Mojzes has written a study on which other scholars will be able to build. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.