The Jastrebarsko children's camp held Serb children who had been brought there from various areas of the Axis puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia (, NDH), during World War II. The children had been captured as a result of massacres and counter-insurgency operations conducted by the genocidal Ustaše-led government, its Axis allies and other collaborators since the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia and establishment of the NDH in April 1941. The camp was located in the town of Jastrebarsko, about southwest of the NDH capital, Zagreb, and operated from 12 July until October 1942. Camp administration was provided by nuns of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul order, with Ustaše guards. Children arrived in an emaciated and weak condition from other camps within the Ustaše camp system, with a total of 3,336 children passing through the camp. Between 449 and 1,500 children died, mainly from disease and malnutrition. A sub-camp was established in nearby Donja Reka. The Yugoslav Partisans liberated about 350 children from the main camp inAugust 1942. In October 1942, about 500 of the surviving children were dispersed among local families by the Catholic aid group, Caritas; in total, 1,637 boys and girls were taken in by families in Jastrebarsko, Zagreb and surrounding villages, and another 113 were relocated to Gradiška. Background In April 1941, the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia overran the country. While the invasion was still underway, the Germans orchestrated the proclamation of the Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) by the fascist and Croat-chauvinist Ustaše party. The government of this Italo-German quasi-protectorate immediately implemented a "savage policy aimed at fashioning a largely homogeneous state out of a heterogeneous population". According to the historian and political scientist Sabrina P. Ramet, the NDH was run by the most brutal and bloody puppet regime in Axis-dominated Europe during World War II, which incited widespread massacres and operated concentration camps targeting Serbs, Jews, Romani people and other "undesirables". In particular, the Ustaše regime expelled large numbers of Serbs from the NDH, and was involved in widespread mass murder, resulting in Ramet's conclusion that it was genocidal in both intent and in practical terms. The Catholic Church had a complex relationship with the NDH government, particularly due to the close relationship between Catholicism, Croatian nationalism, and historical Croatian polities. Some Catholic clergy, especially younger members, were intolerant towards Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church for a