During the entire time that Jasenovac concentration camp was in operation, the inhabitants of Jasenovac and the surrounding area lived under a special regime. The whole region was under special guard and protection, as a “safety zone”. The Command Headquarters of the Jasenovac Assembly Camps, the Ustasha hospital and Ustasha prisons were located in Jasenovac itself. The Serbian population of Jasenovac was taken to Camp III (Brickworks) on 8 May 1942 and their houses looted. The women and children were deported to Stara Gradiška Camp, and the men to Zemun (Sajmište), from where they were deported to forced labour in Germany and Norway.
The fate of the inhabitants of Jasenovac was directly linked to the nearby camp. They would witness prisoners being brought to the camp and liquidated on a daily basis. They tried to help, as often as circumstances would allow, but they risked their lives in offering even crumbs of bread or scraps of fruit, or by carrying messages or performing other small services.
Between 1941 and 1945, 367 inhabitants of Jasenovac died in camps, prisons or Partisan units. Most died in Stara Gradiška Camp (128) and Camp III (Brickworks) (114). Among them there were 54 children under the age of 12.
To honor the inhabitants of Jasenovac who had died during World War II, the monument „The Dead Open The Eyes Of The Living by Stanko Jančić was placed in the park in the center of the village.
The monument has two parts: a sculpture of a mother with a child, and a large plaque with information about the suffering of the inhabitants of Jasenovac.