Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara
Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara (transl. Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška) is a Croatian song promoting the Ustaše massacres in World War II. The lyrics celebrate the holocaust in Croatia and genocide of Serbs at the Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška concentration camps and in Herzegovina. The original author of the song is unknown.[1]
Lyrics
| Lyrics in Croatian[2] | Lyrics in English |
|---|---|
| Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara,
to je kuća Maksovih mesara. |
Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška,
that is the house of Max's butchers |
| Kroz Imotski kamioni žure,
voze crnce Francetića Jure. |
Through Imotski trucks are rushing,
they are driving the Legion of Jure Francetić |
| U Čapljini, klaonica bila,
puno Srba Neretva nosila. |
In Čapljina there was a slaughterhouse,
many Serbs were carried away by Neretva |
| Oj Neretvo teci niza stranu,
nosi Srbe plavome Jadranu. |
Hey, Neretva, flow downhill,
carry the Serbs into the blue Adriatic. |
| Ko je moga zamisliti lani,
da će Božić slavit partizani. |
Last year who would have thought,
that the Partisans would be celebrating Christmas |
| Tko je reka, jeba li ga ćaća,
da se Crna Legija ne vraća. |
Fuck him who said that
the Black Legion would not return |
| Gospe sinjska ako si u stanju, | Our Lady of Sinj if you are able, |
| Oj Račane jeba ti pas mater,
i onome tko je glasa za te. |
Oh Račan, fuck you,
and whoever voted for you. |
| Sjajna zvijezdo iznad Metkovića,
pozdravi nam Antu Pavelića. |
Shining star above Metković,
greet for us Ante Pavelić. |
Controversies
In December 2003, Matija Babić and Neven Baraković, journalists of Croatian left-leaning tabloid Index.hr, published an article in which they claimed to have found an internet audio recording of the Croatian singer-songwriter Marko Perković Thompson performing the song, and criticized Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), Croatia Records and other media for continuing to cover Thompson as a mainstream artist.[3]
According to Index.hr, Perković first denied, then acknowledged on his official website in 2004, and later continued to deny performing the song, claiming that it was a montage made and shared by Croatian journalists Denis Latin and Aleksandar Stanković from Croatian Radio Television, and part of a wider conspiracy by the Yugoslav State Security Service (UDBA).[4] A court case against Latin and Stanković was subsequently dismissed due to a statute of limitations.[4] In a 2020 interview for the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Perković condemned the song, stating that it was "completely contrary to my worldview and the ideology I belong to. Being associated with that song is offensive to me" and that its lyrics are "disgusting".[4]
References
- ^ Goldstein, Ivo (4 August 2018). "Dok negacionisti niječu ustaške zločine, Thompson čini nešto mnogo gore: slavi ih. A sva strahota ove zemlje je da je on u Hrvatskoj danas mainstream" [While the deniers deny the Ustasha crimes, Thompson does something much worse: he celebrates them. And the whole horror of this country is that he is mainstream in Croatia today]. Globus, Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ "Thompson, Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara" (in Croatian). lupiga.com. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
- ^ Matija Babić (18 December 2003). "Thompson - domoljub ili fašist? Konačan odgovor je..." (in Croatian). Index.hr. Archived from the original on 10 July 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ a b c "Thompson kaže da mu je ustaška pjesma 'Jasenovac i Gradiška' odvratna, te da je snimka na kojoj je pjeva montaža UDBE!?" [Thompson says he finds the Ustasha song 'Jasenovac and Gradiška' disgusting, and that the recording of him singing it is a montage of UDBA!?]. Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). 6 August 2025. Retrieved 21 January 2026.