The Government of Spain has ordered the urgent removal of the coat of arms of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) from the gravestone of the Ustaše criminal Vjekoslav “Maks” Luburić at the cemetery in Carcaixent near Valencia, according to a report by the newspaper El País today.
The Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory has included the pantheon in the Catalog of Symbols and Elements Contrary to Democratic Memory, based on the Law on Democratic Memory. The resolution, adopted on April 16, mandates that the Ustaše coat of arms—represented by a sword and the Croatian checkerboard with the first square in white—be “removed immediately” from the black granite pedestal with a bronze cross.
In its place, information panels will be installed to historically contextualize the figure of Luburić, who was one of the main leaders of the Ustaše concentration camp system, including Jasenovac, where mass crimes were committed against Serbs, Jews, Roma, and others during World War II. El País states that his brutality surprised even high-ranking officers of the Third Reich.
After the war, Luburić fled to Francoist Spain, living under a false name. He was killed on April 20, 1969, specifically in Carcaixent. The monument with Ustaše symbols was erected in 1976.
The Spanish government’s decision is part of a broader policy of confronting fascist and Nazi symbols on Spanish territory, and legal sanctions are provided in case of non-compliance. El País emphasizes that this represents a step toward the dignity of the victims and the obligation of truthful remembrance.
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Source: Nova.rs; Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons