Tenja

History

Tenja was under Ottoman rule from around 1526 to 1683 and was part of the Sanjak of Pojega. Following the end of Ottoman rule in the region, the Lordship of Erdut was established in 1730, and Tenja became part of its domain. The Church of St Anne dates to 1754, while the local Orthodox parish dates to 1761. Further Serbian settlement took place in Tenja after the First World War. In 1942, the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia established a Jewish settlement on the boundary between Osijek and Tenja for Jews from Osijek and the surrounding area. Built using forced labour, the settlement developed into a concentration and transit camp. Around 2,000 Jews from Osijek were interned there in June 1942, followed by Jews from other towns in the region. In August, the prisoners were deported, primarily to Auschwitz and Jasenovac. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the Tenja/Tenjska Mitnica labour camp near Osijek initially held German prisoners of war and was later used to intern members of the ethnic German minority (Volksdeutsche). It operated as an internment camp for Volksdeutsche from August 1946 until January 1947. In the following decades, settlers arrived in Tenja from Bosnia and Herzegovina and from the Croatian regions of Lika, Banija and Kordun. Between July and November 1991, at least 29 non-Serb civilians were killed in Tenja, while 2,961 Croatian nationals and other non-Serbs were forced to leave the Tenja area. From 1996 to 1998, Tenja was administered by the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES). In January 1997, the Transitional Administrator established the Transitional Municipality of Tenja for a one-year period.