It's nearly 80 years since the series of atrocities known as the Glina massacres took place. There are still people alive today who were small children at the time. In fact, I know one of them. The massacres in this small town feature prominently in my new study.

Western historians increasingly refer to these massacres as an example of "mass violence," a theoretical term I don't subscribe to, especially in this case. It avoids ascribing responsibility and obscures the fact that most of the early massacres were directed from the centre.

The massacres in Glina were a joint enterprise between local Ustashas, the centre and former local Ustasha leaders now in important positions in the centre. Many of the Ustasha militia men involved in the killings arrived in buses with Zagreb number plates.

Historians like mass violence theory because it enables them to break things down to a granular level. Fine. The danger is that you break it down so much it no longer makes any sense. People in Glina weren't killing each other in 1940 because there wasn't a state driving it.

Of course, understanding local dynamics is important. As elsewhere, Glina was complicated. Neighbours, employees and colleagues were involved in the killings of local Serbs but they were also involved in saving their lives too, including people who'd joined the Ustashas.

Understanding Glina is important for understanding three things I would argue: 1. The ritualised, performative and carnivalesque nature of Ustasha killing; 2. The role massacres played in socioeconomically transforming Glina as everywhere in the NDH; 3. Socialist memory culture.

The fact is that we know quite a lot about the perpetrators but almost nothing about the victims. That's pretty troubling. Who were these men? I had no idea until I started writing the book. @IgorMrkalj filled in a huge number of gaps for me. It's an incredibly sad story.

Maybe there's a 4th reason why Glina matters; nationalist memory culture. There used to be a memorial centre in the town but in the 1990s the building was transformed into the Hrvatski dom. Most years, Serb leaders and Croat supporters hold a commemoration for the victims.

The local council usually opposes it. They say they don't want Glina being remembered for these massacres or opening old wounds. That's understandable but Croatia is also filled with memorials to the civilian and military victims of the Homeland War.

It's a reminder of how nationalist culture works. "Don't open old wounds" can often mean "don't remind me of the times when members of our nation did terrible things to Them; remember only the terrible things They did to members of our nation." It's prevalent across the region.

At this point I guess I'm supposed to say buy my book. But as it's in editorial hell, you'll probably never be able to! However, do read @IgorMrkalj's writing on this subject because he's really, really good, objective and the expert on all this.