For the Ustasha authorities, the village of Draksenić was an important point because it was located on the main road from Bosanska Dubica to Bosanska Gradiška, from which the road led to Jasenovac and Novska. The crew were placed in the former gendarmerie station in the village. In the early 1942, the Ustasha often made breakthroughs in the Plain villages from Jasenovac, Uštica, Tanac, and Košutarica. Assessing the danger that threatened them, the Ustasha authorities and the Ministry of Homeland Security decided to use the forces from the garrisons in Bosanska Dubica, Bosanska Gradiška, Karađorđevo (a village in the territory of the municipality of Bosanska Gradiška), Nova Gradiška, and Jasenovac to attack and occupy the villages of Donja Gradina and Draksenić. The attack began on the night of January 14, 1942, with the support of a battery from Stara Gradiška, and two platoons from Jasenovac and Hrvatska Dubica. About 1,200 Ustasha took part in the attack.

In his diary, Major Mirko Pekić wrote the following:

“Soon after, I arrived at the scene of the crime. I entered the church and the image that I saw was carved into my mind in such a way that it seemed I would never forget it. A 16-year-old boy lay dead on the steps in front of the main door. He was lying on his back. His face looked as if he was smiling. He was stabbed in the chest, and his Adam’s apple was cut out. We opened the door. The sight was really creepy and terrible. A friend who was standing next to me fainted and collapsed. In the whole church, there was a bunch of rolled over dead people everywhere. There was one little female child about six months old. Her head was cut in two places, and her brain and blood were leaking all over the yellow and white concrete slabs. There were two bayonet stab wounds on her abdomen. There were two intestine bubbles sticking out of the holes. There was a petrified cry of pain and fear on her face. Next to her was a woman with cuts on her head, with her right arm over the child’s body. Probably the baby’s mother. Eight children of different ages were found in these piles of bodies. Looking at them I thought, did the gods not wish their watchmakers to offer sacrifices to them like once Abraham offered Isaac. Four girls raped, and then cut on their thighs, breasts, and heads There was a woman sitting in a wall dent at the altar. At first, I thought she was alive. When I got closer, I saw her stiff eyes, punctured chest, and thin scarring on the neck. Looking from afar, she seemed to be looking at the sad sight, reading the requiem over this great crowd of dead people.

We found eight children’s bodies. The rest were adults of different sex and age. We buried 204 bodies in a joint tomb near the church”.

THE VILLAGE OF DRAKSENIĆ IN WWII, Tanja Tuleković