Balkan Insight - Balkan Transitional Justice
[BIRN]
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[BIRN]
Dublin
April 11, 2019
Croatia’s Disrespect for Jasenovac Victims Has a Long Tradition
Jewish and Serb organisations have boycotted the official commemoration at the Jasenovac concentration camp since the Croatian Democratic Union government came to power in 2016 - but disrespect for victims of Croatia’s WWII fascist government didn’t start then.
The official Croatian Government commemoration for victims of Jasenovac 22 April 2016
Photo: EPA/ANTONIO BAT.
For the fourth year in a row, representatives of Croatia’s Jewish and Serbian communities, as well as anti-fascists, will boycott the official commemoration of the victims of the World War II concentration camp at Jasenovac on April 14.
That means there will again be a separate, unofficial and much more well-attended commemoration for more than 83,000[*] Serbs, Roma, Jews and anti-fascists killed at the camp by the Croatian WWII fascist Ustasa movement, which will be held at the site on April 12.
Representatives of the Roma community, Jasenovac’s second biggest victim group, will again attend both commemorations.
For the fourth year in a row, we have witnessed the government expressing disappointment that the victim groups won’t be present at the official ceremony. Once more, officials have shamelessly expressed sorrow about how Jasenovac is being used to create divisions in society while the government is doing all it can to respect the memory of the dead.
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[*] Valid estimates of the number of victims killed in Jasenovac by the Croatian Ustasha are far higher than the "83,000" mentioned here! Between 700,000 and 1 Million victims is the more valid estimate of the number of victims. Aleksandra Rebic
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
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