World War II persecution of Serbs

World War II persecution of Serbs
Part of World War II
Serbs, expelled from their homes in the Independent State of Croatia, march out of town carrying large bundles.
Location	Independent State of Croatia Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia Hungarian-occupied territories Bulgarian-occupied territories Albanian Kingdom (1939–1943) Albanian Kingdom (1943–1944)
Date	1941–45
Target	Serbs
Attack type	Mass murder Ethnic cleansing Deportation Forced conversion
Deaths	Estimates vary and are disputed. It is agreed that the total number of Serbian deaths ranges from 300,000 to 500,000, while the total number of Serbs killed in concentration camps is estimated to be around 100,000
Perpetrators	Ustaše government of the Independent State of Croatia,Albanian collaborationists,Axis occupation forces
Motive	Racial laws that also caused The Holocaust in Croatia and Porajmos

The World War II persecution of Serbs includes the extermination, expulsion and forced religious conversion of large numbers of ethnic Serbs by the Ustaše regime in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), as well as killings and expulsions of Serbs by the various Axis forces and their local quislings in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. The persecution of Serbs by the Ustaše regime is also known as the Serbian genocide.

The number of Serbs murdered by the Ustaše is the subject of much debate and estimates vary widely. Yad Vashem estimates over 500,000 murdered, 250,000 expelled and 200,000 forcibly converted to Catholicism. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has estimated that Ustaša authorities murdered between 320,000 and 340,000 ethnic Serb residents of Croatia and Bosnia between 1941-45 (the period of Ustaše control), of whom between 45,000 and 52,000 were murdered at the Jasenovac concentration camp alone. According to the Federal Institute for Statistics in Belgrade, the "actual" figure of the casualties suffered within Yugoslavia's border of war-related causes during the second world war was ca. 597,323 deaths. Of these, 346,740 were Serbs and 83,257 were Croats.

In April 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers, and the puppet state known as the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was created, ruled by the Ustaše regime. The ideology of the Ustaše movement was a blend of Nazism,Roman Catholicism, and Croatian ultranationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the Drina river and the outskirts of Belgrade. The movement emphasized the need for a racially "pure" Croatia and promoted the extermination of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies.