Stara Gradiška prison is a former prison at Stara Gradiška, Croatia. The prison site was first established in 1799. During World War II, the former

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

fortress was used by the Ustaša regime as the Stara Gradiška concentration camp, a part of the Jasenovac complex, the largest extermination camp in occupied Yugoslavia. From 1945 until the late 1980s the prison at Stara Gradiška held political prisoners of the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

regime. The detention facility was shut down by the

Republic of Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in 1990, a decision made formal in February 1991. However, from October 1991 until July 1993, the prison was again re-opened by the Krajina Serbs, who captured and detained numerous Croats in the facility during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

. The municipality plans to turn the site into a museum. The Catholic Church plans to build a memorial church in the area.Stara Gradiška: Blagoslovljen temeljni kamen spomen-crkve za svećenike žrtve komunizma

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Prison buildings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stara Gradiska prison 18th-century establishments in Croatia 1799 establishments in the Habsburg monarchy 1991 disestablishments in Croatia Defunct prisons in Croatia Prisons in Yugoslavia Prison