Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Jasenovac
Commemorated August 31 / September 13
Jasenovac was a complex of concentration camps established by the Ustase (Croatian fascists) in August 1941. It was situated on the territory of the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska; the NDH), which collaborated with Nazi Germany, about forty miles from Zagreb. Even the Nazis were horrified by the brutal treatment of its prisoners.
The New Martyrs of Jasenovac were Orthodox Christian prisoners who were martyred from 1941–1944. In fact, nearly 750,000 Serbian Orthodox gave their lives in the defense and confession of the faith during the time of WWII in the so-called "Independent State of Croatia" and in other parts of German-occupied Yugoslavia at the hands of the Croatian nationalists and other enemies of the Orthodox Church. This was done at the instigation of and with the open participation of the Roman Catholic clergy. This Latin persecution was aimed at the complete elimination of the Orthodox Church in these areas where attempts at forced conversion to Catholicism were joined to a systematic and completely overt destruction of every trace of Orthodox Christianity.
The Bishops’ Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church established the feast of the Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Jasenovac. The Russian Orthodox Church included their names in its calendar and established the commemoration of their feast on August 31 / September 13.
What was Jasenovac: https://www.jasenovac.org/what-was-jasenovac/
Extended History of the New Martyrs of Jasenovac: https://www.crkvenikalendar.com/zitije_en.php?pok=0&id=BVVK
Individual Lives of Jasenovac Martyrs, Part I: https://orthochristian.com/156029.html
Individual Lives of Jasenovac Martyrs, Part II: hhttps://orthochristian.com/156077.html
Serbian Film, Dara of Jasenovac : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10554232/
This icon was written by the sisters of Saint George the Great Martyr Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Brnjak, Kosovo-Metohija. Please pray for these courageous nuns who are living amidst modern day persecution, as well as for all of the suffering Orthodox faithful of Kosovo-Metohija!
