On 26th of January 1946 in Barić Draga, ŠIME BARIĆ, the son of Filip, and NIKOLA BARIĆ, the son of late Grga, testified of transportation of sand for the construction of a building in the camp Slana, the transportation of internees from Karlobag to Slana and the possible number of them, in front of the Lika District Committee which investigated occupiers and their helpers in war crimes.
– “In the summer of 1941 I was recommended by IVAN DEVČIĆ, also called “Pivac”, to come to Karlobag with my ship. As soon as I got the message, I sailed to Karlobag with my sailboat named “Lady Rosaria”. Along with several Ustashe we sailed to Metajna. I stayed there for five days and every day I transported a boat of sand to Slana. The sand was loaded and unloaded by the detainees.
– As far as I know the internees were moved from Karlobag to Slana by two ships, “Seagull” and “Hawk”, both from Barić Draga, while the third ship belonged to MARŽIĆ from Pag.”
– In the summer of 1941, four armed Ustashe came to me in Barić Draga. They arrested me, took me to my ship “Maria” and ordered me to sail to Metajna. Then we transported the sand to Slana. Six days after I was released. The order came from Zagreb after some of my friends intervened. I did not see the camp in Slana because I was kept inside of the ship by Ustashe.
Baška Slana Lagoon — northern approach to Slana from the side of Karlobag. The Velebit sides are visible in the back, somewhat south of Karlobag.
JOSIP DATAKOVIĆ form Barbat (Metajna, authors note), was a former Ustashian guard in the camp Slana. He testified in the office of the Local NO Pag on 10th of January 1946. He said:
“The Ustashian camper ZUBOVIĆ mobilized me by force and sent me to Karlobag. He told me I would go wherever I wanted to. I wanted to be near home, of course, not thinking of the bad things that could happened. I was sent to Slana to be a guard, and I stayed there from the 16th of June until after the Assumption of the Virgin Mary day (the 15th of September) 1941.
It’s well known the criminals always choose the scariest places to build camps, that is, the places where life conditions are difficult due to the hostile environment. They were usually situated in malarial areas, with a number of swamps, moisture and mosquitoes, desolated areas without vegetation, continental areas with very cold winters or south areas with very hot summers.
These were not only places with almost impossible living conditions but also the places which made it fast and easy to get rid of the victims. It was usually the places by a river or vast wildernesses.
TThe area of Slana on the island of Pag was suitable for all conditions needed for organizing the concentration camp. Ustashian butchers simply "copied" what German Nazis were doing during the building of concentration camps in Germany or in enslaved parts of Europe to the camp Slana on the island of Pag.
The Slana area was extremely hostile. There was no larger plant in the whole area to make any kind of shade. Not even a hand of soil. It was all just bare rocks, always sharp as a knife and red hot in the summer.
Just being there, in this stone desert, during the June, July and August was a torture. Without a water or food you’re destined to die.
The front of the stone hell — Sušac Lagoon — the south approach from Slana and Pag. Velebit sides are visible in the back.
Ustashe knew the environment on Pag in the summer very well and they knew how hostile this rocky ground was. The plan to build a camp here was profound — it was premeditated murder itself.
The Ustashian camp Slana was in the north-eastern part of island Pag, 6 kilometers from the town of Pag. It was the center part of the camp, while the secondary part of it, made for women, was situated in hamlet named Metajna (Barbat), 3 kilometers away from Slana going to west.
The area of Slana, where the center of the camp was located, was a rocky platform which was also a ravine. The first was on the side of Karlobag, from the Baška Slana Lagoon (people called it Upper Slana), and the other was on the side of Pag, from the Sušac Lagoon (also called Lower Lagoon).
There is no sign of a tree in this robust area. It’s the hottest place on Pag with the strongest storms. The inhabitants know a man can’t survive in the environment of the Slana Lagoon, and this is why it was never populated. The area of Slana is difficult to survive in as there is no water, except for a few small wells near the coast. However, this water is mostly salty not drinkable due to it’s mixing with the see water.