Culture Minister Hasanbegović unexpectedly comes to the presentation of a book written by author Slavko Goldstein.
Historian and author Slavko Goldstein presented on Friday his latest book “Jasenovac – Tragedy, Mythomania, Truth”, a polemical response to the book “The Jasenovac Camp – Research”, which had been published by the Society for Research of the Threefold Jasenovac Camp, reports Večernji List on April 9, 2016.
The basic intention of Goldstein’s book is, as was pointed out, to focus the public attention on the true dimensions and the issue of the Jasenovac concentration camp and its existence in the Independent State of Croatia, which should, according to the author, break down the myth and forgeries about the “three-fold” camp which, according to some other interpretations, has been in use also in the years after the war, as well as after the Cominform resolution (1948), while during the Independent State of Croatia it was allegedly only a penal and labour camp.
The book disproves the manipulations with the number of victims which range from more than 700,000, as claimed primarily by Serbian sources, to just about 2,000, which was established by the Commission for Investigation of the War and Post-War Period.
According to the author, the controversy around the Jasenovac concentration camp has been and still largely is marked by nationalistic motives. Blind nationalism, as Goldstein points out in his book, is the “biggest pest for the society and the state”.
“The so-called theory of ‘a threefold camp’ in Jasenovac relativises horror of the death camp, the only camp which is documented to exist at the site in Jasenovac. The book by Slavko Goldstein should be understood as an invitation to persevere in the fight for the documented truth about the camp in Jasenovac, but also as an invitation to the general public, to all of our citizens who are active in public life of Croatia, that this is a point of resistance at which those who are trying to reduce crimes committed in the Jasenovac camp will break their teeth”, said Ivica Đikić, journalist and the editor-in-chief of Novosti weekly.
Natasha Mataušić, former president of the Management Board of the Jasenovac Memorial Area, presented a series of photos of the Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška camps from the Ustasha and Yugoslav archives.
According to the author, there have recently been many forgeries, lies and inaccuracies told about Jasenovac, including the recently presented film about Jasenovac by director Jakov Sedlar which the author did not want to comment on specifically.
The presentation of the book was attended by, among others, Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegović, President of the Serbian National Council Milorad Pupovac, the last Yugoslavian Foreign Minister Budimir Lončar, and many other representatives of the Croatian political and cultural circles.
“This is a very important topic and it is important that we approach it in a serious and documented manner devoid of any political provocation. As a historian, I can say that historiography does not allow the right to an illusion”, said Minister Hasanbegović.
The presentation was accompanied by police security, due to recent threats by HOS members to Ivica Đikić, but no incidents took place.
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