A massacre of Croat civilians was committed by local Serb rebels led by Mane Rokvić on August 9-10, 1941, during the Drvar uprising.
The rebels were primarily Chetniks.Dizdar, Zdravko & Mihajlo Sobolevski, „Prešućivani četnički zločini u Hrvatskoj i Bosni i Hercegovini: 1941-1945", Zagreb (1999)|quote=Ustanici četnici i partizani napali su Krnjeušu 2. kolovoza 1941. a potom je zauzeli poklali (većinom 9. i 10. kolovoza) sve one Hrvate koje su tu zatekli ili pohvatali.|page=116Dizdar, Zdravko „Četnički zločini u Bosni i Hercegovini 1941-1945", Zagreb 2002. The manner in which the massacre was committed suggests it was done in retaliation for earlier massacres committed by the Ustaša. In particular, between July 30 and August 8, 3 to 4 thousand Serbs were killed by the Ustaša in the neighbouring Slunj district.
The Roman Catholic parish of Krnjeuša, established as Parish of Zelinovac in 1892, was a parish of the Diocese of Banja Luka which encompassed 10 settlements (Krnjeuša, lastve, Vranovina, Risovac, Vođenica, Vrtoče, Bjelaj, Teočak, Prkose and Cimeše) in the area near to Bosanski Petrovac numbering around 1,300 believers.
The massacre, which started on August 9, 1941, caused the total destruction of the parish. The church, the rectory and majority of houses in parish was burned and demolished. So far, the identity of 240 killed civilians is known including a 34-year-old parish priest, Krešimir Barišić, who was tortured and burned alive. Among those killed were 72 women and 49 children under the age of 12. After the massacre the local Croats fled and the communist authorities refused to allow exiles to return after the war ended in 1945.
See also Trubar massacre Bosansko Grahovo massacre Roman Catholic Diocese of Banja Luka
References
Sources Anto Orlovac: Hommage uništenom zavičaju, članak iz Hrvatskog slova od 6. travnja 2007., str. 22. Ana Došen: Krnjeuša u srcu i sjećanju, Matica hrvatska, ogranak Rijeka, Rijeka, 1994; Ana Došen: To je bilo onda, Vlastita naklada, Zagreb, 2007; Josip Jurjević: Pogrom u Krnjeuši 9. i 10. kolovoza 1941.', Vikarijat Banjalučke biskupije, Zagreb, 1999;