Italians were doing everything possible to inflame the war in Yugoslavia. Aside from using the weapons deliveries for this, they also used the media. Italian daily from Bologne, Il resto del Carlino, published in period of 18th to 22nd of October 1941 – the worst period of fascism – articles by Corrada Zolli in which this journalist pretended to be “shocked” by the Ustashi crimes. With such articles the Italians were trying to foster hate against Croatia among Serbs and Italians, and so Croatian crimes – while not nonexistent – were largely exaggerated and made up. Good example of this exaggeration were the reports about hundreds of thousands of people murdered in Jasenovac and other camps – between 250 000 and 700 000 just Serbs in NDH by 1943., as reported by Germans. But basic arithmetic can show why this number is false. If some 250 000 and 700 000 Serbs had been murdered by 1943, this means that by the end of the war the number will have grown to 500 000 to 1,4 million. And this is just Serbs.
In reality, combined number of victims of war in entirety of Yugoslavia from 1941 to 1945, not counting the post-war murders by Communists, is around 700 000 – and this includes Serbs, Croats, Germans, Italians and so on, people killed by the Ustashi, Germans, Italians but also by Chetniks, Partisans, Soviets, and Allied bombardments. With NDH having 42% of the prewar population of Yugoslavia, even with murder rate being twice the remaining Yugoslavia there could have been no more than 450 000 dead in NDH. Depending on total casualties in Yugoslavia – which are between 500 000 at minimum and 1 million at maximum, this number could go as low as 200 000 or as high as 700 000. According to Žerjavić, in Croatia and BiH Partisans had killed 101 000 Croats and Muslims, and Chetniks further 68 000. Partisans themselves had killed some 10 000 Serbs just in 1945., mostly Chetniks; thus 20 000 – 40 000 total Serbs killed by Partisans is not impossible, of which 10 000 – 30 000 may have been in NDH.
This means that Axis in total will have been responsible for 266 000 dead in the NDH in the median figure (that is, 266 000 out of 450 000 dead in total), with minimum being 21 000 and maximum 531 000. This number will have included both enemy combatants and the civilians. Significant number of the dead were Croats who had gone to Partisans in order to resist Italian occupation of Dalmatia (resistance which, by the way, was contrary to Tito’s desires, and many Croatian Partisans ended up being murdered on Tito’s orders). Therefore, ignoring the low-end figure which is completely unlikely, number of Serbs killed by the Axis (be it Germans, Italians or Croatians) in NDH cannot have been above 400 000 (assuming 531 000 dead in total), and more likely it will have been around 100 000 – 200 000. This number, as rough as it is, should clearly show that Italians were engaging in a clear campaign of defamation and psychological propaganda warfare against Croatia.
(It should be noted that the above number of 100 000 – 200 000 Serbs killed includes only those killed by the Axis – it completely ignores those killed by the Partisans or other causes. However, it includes all Serbs killed by the Axis and all causes – which is to say, it includes people killed in combat and in concentration camps, killed by Croatians, Germans or Italians).
