Srbosjek

History

The knife gained notoriety in the former Yugoslavian countries because it was used by the Croatian Ustashas during World War II for the killing of prisoners in the concentration camps of the Nazi-ultranationalist Independent State of Croatia, most notably the Jasenovac concentration camp. 

Description
The upper part of the knife was made of leather, as a sort of a glove, designed to be worn with the thumb going through the hole, so that only the blade protruded from the hand. It was a curved, 12 cm long knife with the edge on its concave side. The knife was fastened to a bowed oval copper plate, while the plate was fastened to a thick leather bangle.Taborišče smrti--Jasenovac  by Nikola Nikolić (author), Jože Zupančić (translator),Založba "Borec", Ljubljana 1969 The knife described on page 72: 'Na koncu noža, tik bakrene ploščice, je bilo z vdolbnimi črkami napisano "Grafrath gebr. Solingen", na usnju pa reliefno vtisnjena nemška tvrtka "Gräviso" 'Picture of the knife with description on page 73: 'Posebej izdelan nož, ki so ga ustaši uporabljali pri množičnih klanjih. Pravili so mu "kotač" - kolo - in ga je izdelovala nemška tvrtka "Gräviso" ' The knife was fixed on the glove plate in order to prevent injuries and to avoid taking care of a separate knife in order to improve the work speed.Margaret E. Wagner, David M. Kennedy, Linda Barrett Osborne, Susan Reyburn: The Library of Congress World War II Companion, Library of Congress, Simon & Schuster, 2007, , 9780743252195 p. 683

Such a type of wheat sheaf knife was manufactured prior to and during World War II by German factory Gebrüder Gräfrath from Solingen under the trademark "Gräwiso".Vladimir Dedijer (Editor), Harvey L. Kendall (Translator), The Yugoslav Auschwitz and the Vatican: The Croatian Massacre of the Serbs During World War II (Prometheus Books. July 1992)Für die Richtigkeit: Kurt Waldheim by Hanspeter Born Schneekluth, 1987
, 9783795110550, page 65Beliebt war das sogar wettbewerbsmäßig organisierte Kehledurchschneiden mit einem speziellen Krumm-messer Marke Gräviso. 
Gebrüder Gräfrath was taken over in 1961 by Hubertus Solingen.

Related pages
 Jasenovac concentration camp

References

Bibliography
Ladislaus Hory and Martin Broszat: Der kroatische Ustascha-Staat, 1941-1945, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt Stuttgart, 1964
Dave Hunt: Die Frau und das Tier Geschichte, Gegenwart und Zukunft der römischen Kirche © 1994 by Dave Hunt, Herausgegeben von Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon - Das Abschlachten der Serben Chapter, pages 289-301
Egon Berger: 44 mjeseca u Jasenovcu, Graficki Zavod Hrvatske, Zagreb 1966

Other websites
 The Vatican's Holocaust by Avro Manhattan  
 Jasenovac Research Institute 
  Blood and Ashes of Jasenovac by Lordan Zafranovic

Category:Croatia
Category:World War II
Category:Knives