Why Be Enemies: Ethnic Conflict, Identity, and Historical Memory in a Balkan Town in 1941

In the summer of 1941, a series of collective acts of violence erupted in a small town in the Balkans. The violence reached its peak over the course of just 48 hours, when nearly 2,000 men, women, and children were slaughtered by their former neighbors.

Drawing on firsthand accounts and interviews with survivors, the author tells in detail the tragic story of this episode under the Independent State of Croatia, connecting local history to the origins, mechanisms, and impact of violence around the world. He seeks to answer: What causes violence between ethnic groups? How does violence between neighbors affect their identities and relationships? Did ethnic conflict spark the violence, or did violence create mutual hostility between ethnic groups?