Concentration camp III was set up on the estate of the Serbian Family of Bačić spreading on the East side of the Jasenovac settlement on the left bank of the Sava River, of the area of 125 hectares. This area was dominated by a brickworks, and the central concentrtation camp of the Jasenovac system of Ustasha concentration camps was named Camp III – Ciglana (Brickworks). By virtue of a decision of the Presidency of the Independent State of Croatia’s Government from 06 October 1941, the huge and highly valuable estate of the Bačić family was handed over to be administered and possessed by the Ministry of Interior and the Directorate for Public Order and Security in Zagreb. On 16 October, 10 days later on, the official hand over took place. The Transportation Cooperative’s property was received by Vjekoslav Luburić Maks on behalf of the Directorate for Public Order and Security. After that it took another month to prepare the conversion of the industrial complex into a concentration camp. This was the largest and the longest standing concentration camp in the system of Jasenovac concentration camps. At the beginning, it was fenced with several rows of barbed wire. In 1942, the prisoners themselves built a wall of the height of 3-5 metres on three of its sides, with the Sava River being a natural barrier on the fourth side. Seven guard towers were built on the wall itself wherefrom it was easy to control the entire concentration camp area including its immediate and distant surroundings. All guard towers were furnished with large amounts of ammunition, weapons and huge search lights that covered every single corner of the camp and its surrounding.

The railway line ran into the camp for one of the lines branched off at the Railway Station in Jasenovac running into the concentration camp. This was an industrial railway line built in 1899 for the needs of the river dock on the Sava River, and later, also, for the needs of the Transportation Cooperative’s industry. Many will be deported to the concentration camp precisely by trains.
There were two camp commanders. The camp commander was in charge of the camp security. The commander of work service has a larger influence because he was in charge of camp work, food, and accommodation of detainees.

The first Brickyard detainees slept in a wall-free building, so-called “Tunnel” where the bricks were kept to dry. It was them who set the wire around the camp and built three primitive barracks to serve as housing for the detainees. They slept on the floors. These barracks were destroyed in February 1942. It was then that the camp was visited by the International Committee including some ISC allies and the six new barracks and a hospital were built. The Ustaše wanted to make the camp look like a friendly and hospitable place. The new barracks were 40 metres long and 10 metres wide with wooden sleeping boxes. One sleeping box hosted six detainees. At night, they defecated into large bowls and hygienic conditions were so horrible causing frequent typhus epidemic. It was only when Ustaše started getting ill themselves that they founded a small department for disinfection. The typhus was not eradicated but the epidemic appeared more rarely.