The politics of the Ustasha government, based on those of Nazi Germany, resulted in the introduction of racial laws. They were primarily targeted against Jews in the territory of the Independent State of Croatia, by legalising persecution and mass murder. In addition to racial laws, in the first months of the ISC existence, a number of other laws and regulations were passed aimed at segregating Jews.
The first groups of Jews arrived at Krapje camp on 23 August 1941. They were prisoners who had survived the Ustasha camps on Pag and in Gospić. Over the next few months, transports of Jews from almost all over the Independent State of Croatia (Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zagreb and elsewhere) began arriving in Jasenovac. Until 1941, they were the largest group of prisoners in the camps.
The largest groups of Jewish women and children (between 2,400 and 3,200) were transported to Camp III (Brickworks) in Jasenovac after the liquidation of the Đakovo camp early in the summer of 1942.
Jewish communities tried to provide material (food, clothes, etc.) and other help (pleas for release etc.) for their members who were captives of the Ustasha camps, with only temporary, partial success.
The winter of 1941/1942 marked the beginning of the establishment of the first work details in Jasenovac Camp III (Brickworks). Many Jews were included in these details, since many of them had skills they had practised before being captured (doctors, craftsmen, artists, etc). Jews were also active in the internal running of the camp and in the warehouses, kitchen, hospital, etc. Of the 22 inmate overseers during the existence of the camp, 6 were Jews.
In Camp IV (Tannery) (founded in January 1942 in Jasenovac village) the highest proportion of inmates was Jewish; many were expert leatherworkers. According to differing estimates, between 11,000 and 18,000 Jews perished in the Jasenovac Camps. Most of them (almost 90%) were killed in mass liquidations during 1941 and 1942.
A few of the inmates were set free or pardoned. Some survivors saved themselves by escaping (a total of 95) or through prisoner exchanges (several dozen).