All members of the Order of St. John are also required to wear specific robes for formal occasions of the society, including a mantle, sopra vest, and hat. The mantles of the Sovereign Head and Grand Prior are all of black silk velvet and lined with white silk, the former's differentiated by an additional train. Bailiffs and Dames Grand Cross and, prior to 1926, Knights of Justice formerly wore black silk robes with a lining of the same material and colour; these members now wear the same mantle as Commanders, Officers, and Esquires, which are made of black merino wool faced with black silk. The only other unique mantles are those of the Medical Officer of the St. John Ophthalmic Hospital, which bears a special pattern, and of Chaplains, which is a black silk robe with full sleeves. Each cloak also bears on its left side a rendition of the order's star in white silk: the Sovereign Head, Grand Prior, and those in the first two grades of the order all have a diameter emblem; the Sovereign's and Grand Prior's are of white silk with gold adornments, the former's also surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown, while those for Bailiffs and Dames Grand Cross, Knights and Dames of Justice, and Knights and Dames of Grace are rendered in white linen, the first two groups having embellishments in gold silk, the latter in white silk. Similarly, the star for Commanders and Officers is of white linen with white silk ornamentation, though they are only and in diameter, respectively. The Secretaries of the order, the priories, and the commanderies also wear the badge superimposed upon two goose quill pens embroidered saltire-wise in white silk.
The sopra (or supra) vest is a long drape of thin, black cloth that buttons close down the neck and to one side, falling to the ankles and cut so as to entirely cover the body. It is similar to a cassock, though it is actually derived from the "supra vesta" a black surcoat worn in the mid 13th century by the Knights of St. John. Confrères in Grade I have a plain, white, 300mm diameter Maltese cross on their sopra vests, while members of Grades II and III, plus Chaplains, have a plain garment, though the wearer's Order of St. John medallion hangs outside the vest, 152mm below the collar. Clerical inductees of the order may, when officiating, wear over their cassock and surplice a tippet of black with red lining, edging, and buttons, a 76mm wide star worn on the left breast and the accordant badge suspended at the neck. When full mantles and sopra vests are worn a black velvet Tudor style hat is included.
The Sovereign makes all appointments to the order as she, in her absolute discretion, shall think fit, though the constitution does impose certain limitations: the maximum number of members is set at 35,000,
To be inducted, new members must recite the organization's declaration:
Notwithstanding the order's devotion to Christian ideals of charity, and its official position that the order has a "Christian character," its Grand Council has since 1999 affirmed that "profession of the Christian Faith should not be a condition of membership of the Order." The issue of the order's Christian character and the issue of "inclusive membership" was dealt with in the Grand Council's "Pro Fide Report" in 2005, wherein it was said that the order's life is shaped by Christian faith and values, but that "[r]ather than the emphasis being primarily upon 'spiritual beliefs or doctrine' it is on works of mercy rendered through St. John"; therefore, while the Great Officers are required to profess the Christian faith, the same is "not an essential condition of membership" and "[t]he onus is on the man or woman who is invited to the privilege of membership to decide whether he or she can with a good conscience promise to be faithful to the stated aims and purposes of this Christian lay order of chivalry." On the subject of inclusive membership, the report stated "Christian hospitality is a criterion which can be applied to the Order's relationships to persons of other religious faiths," and "the Order needs to be characterized by a hospitable disposition towards other faith traditions while holding fast to its own origins and foundational identity in Christian faith."
As the Order of St. John is open to the citizens of sixteen different countries, each with their own system of orders, decorations, and medals, the order's place of precedence varies from country to country. Unlike with other multi-level orders, all the Order of St. John's grades rank between the society's predecessor and successor; some examples follow:
Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp was the largest death camp and concentration camp in the Independent State of Croatia (ISC) during World War II. The camp was created by the Ustaše regime in August 1941 and destroyed in April 1945. Most of the people killed at Jasenovac were ethnic Serbs, who the ISC saw as their main racial enemy. The camp also held Jews, Roma, and a number of Croat and Bosniak Yugoslav Partisans.
Jasenovac was a complex of five sub-camps covering over on both banks of the Sava River. The largest camp was at Jasenovac, about southeast of Zagreb. The complex included large grounds at Donja Gradina directly across the Sava River; a children's concentration camp in Sisak; and a Stara Gradiška concentration camp.
The camp's history website says, "We cannot be sure of the exact number of victims of the Ustasha camp in Jasenovac. According to research completed so far, the number can be estimated at between 80,000 and 100,000".
The Independent State of Croatia (ISC) made three orders in 1941:
These orders were enforced through the regular court system, and through new special courts and mobile courts-martial with special powers. By July 1941, there were too many new prisoners to fit in the jails that existed. The Ustaše government began building the Jasenovac concentration camp.
The Independent State of Croatia was created and supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Because of this, the ISC took on their ideas about race and politics. Jasenovac had a role in the Nazis' "Final Solution." However, the ISC also used the camp for the ethnic cleansing of Romani and Serbian people in Croatia.
The Nazi organizations that directed the Ustaše's death camps were:
The Nazis encouraged the Ustaše's anti-Jewish and anti-Roma actions and showed support for the anti-Serb policy. Soon, it became clear that the Nazis wanted to commit genocide. In a meeting on July 21, 1941, Hitler said to the Croatian military commander, Slavko Kvaternik:
The Jews are the bane of the human kind. If the Jews will be allowed to do as they will, like they are permitted in their Soviet heaven, than they will fulfill their most insane plans. And thus Russia became the center to the world's illness... if for any reason, one nation would endure the existence of a single Jewish family, that family would eventually become the center of a new plot. If there are no more Jews in Europe, nothing will hold the unification of the European nations... this sort of people cannot be integrated in the social order or into an organized nation. They are parasites on the body of a healthy society, that live off of expulsion of decent people. One cannot expect them to fit into a state that requires order and discipline. There is only one thing to be done with them: To exterminate them. The state holds this right since, while precious men die on the battlefront, it would be nothing less than criminal to spare these bastards. They must be expelled, or -- if they pose no threat to the public -- to be imprisoned inside concentration camps and never be released."
The Jasenovac complex was built between August 1941 and February 1942. The first two camps, Krapje and Bročica, were closed in November 1941.
The three newer camps continued to function until the end of the war: