Destruction of the Jewish community of Požega

Požega, in the fertile valley that bears its name, was home to a Jewish community established since the nineteenth century, merchant in character for the most part. The Ustasha regime applied its racial decrees from the very first weeks: declaration of property, confiscation of businesses, exclusion from professions, wearing of the distinctive badge. Arrests, carried out by the local militia, began during the summer and continued in several waves through the winter. The Jewish families of Požega were taken to the camps opened in Slavonia and on the Adriatic. The community was almost entirely annihilated and did not reconstitute itself after the war.