This year there could be two separate commemorations for victims of the Jasenovac camp.
The Coordination of Jewish Communities announced on Monday that this year’s commemorations for the victims of the Jasenovac concentration camp will be held on Friday, 15 April, which means that it will boycott the official memorial service scheduled for 22 April. Unofficial sources claim that the alternative commemorations may also be attended by representatives of the Serbian National Council, the Union of Anti-Fascists of Croatia and SDP, report Večernji List and 24sata.hr on April 11, 2016.
The Coordination of Jewish Communities announced a week ago a boycott of the state commemorations in protest of the “policy of inaction” in relation to changes to the exhibition of the museum in Jasenovac, as well as “daily political events which relativize and revitalize the Ustasha movement”.
Unofficial sources from SDP say that party president and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović could come to the alternative commemorations for the victims of the Ustasha camp. In that way, he would avoid participation at the official commemorations.
President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović has expressed her concern over the re-strengthening of ideological divisions in the society, especially in connection with commemorations for the innocent victims of Jasenovac. She called on all citizens, parties and organizations, the government and Parliament, to unite around the fundamental values of the society, in this case, common commemorations for victims of Jasenovac.
During the afternoon, the President met with representatives of the Union of Anti-Fascists, the Roma minority, the Serbian National Council and the Jewish Community of Zagreb. They agreed about the necessity of opening a dialogue about all issues, said the Office of the President in a statement.
At the invitation of the President, the meeting was attended by the president of the Union of Anti-Fascists Franjo Habulin, a member of Parliament Veljko Kajtazi, president of the Serbian National Council Milorad Pupovac, and president of the Jewish Community of Zagreb Ognjen Kraus.
The participants agreed with the President’s initiative about the necessity of opening a dialogue and debate about all outstanding issues and problems of minority communities in Croatia. During the meeting, they discussed the rise of intolerance and called for consensus and finding a common response to these challenges.
