First Deputy Prime Minister sends a message to representatives of Jews and Serbs.
“I urge all those who have announced boycott of commemorations in Jasenovac to once again consider their decision and to make their respect for the victims and the repeated condemnation of totalitarian regimes more important than daily politics whose effects do not last longer than two or three days. The unity in condemning totalitarianism and the respect for the victims of such political systems should remain our civilizational heritage for generations to come”, said First Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Karamarko in a post published on Facebook on Saturday, reports Večernji List on April 10, 2016.
At the beginning of the week, the Coordination of Jewish Communities in Croatia decided it would not go to the commemorations of the victims of the Jasenovac camp. As one of the reasons for such a decision they cited the relativization and revitalization of the Ustasha movement. The similar decisions were made by the Jewish religious community Bet Israel and the Serbian National Council, while the Alliance of Roma in Croatia Kali Sara will make its decision next week.
“For us as a Jewish community, it is unacceptable that there is historical revisionism going on, relativization of crimes and the attempts to justify the revival of historical movements and ideologies which we have been seeing more and more lately”, said the Bet Israel community.
The leader of the Serbian National Council Milorad Pupovac also warned of “a series of events and activities which show that there are attempts to relativize and even deny the crimes committed in Jasenovac by the Ustasha movement during the quisling Independent State of Croatia”.
Tomislav Karamarko sent a message to all of them to “unite in respect for the victims”. “The condemnation of all totalitarianisms and respect for all the victims are decisions around which the Croatian society must unite”, said Karamarko.
Branko Lustig, a film producer and two-time Academy Award winner, said in an interview that he would still go to Jasenovac as a representative of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and lay her wreath because that is the only right path. “I think we cannot boycott those who died there”, said Lustig.
