Israeli historian Gideon Greif stated today that 700,000 Serbs, Jews, and Roma were brutally murdered in the Jasenovac concentration camp.
“I am here because we have a moral obligation to the hundreds of thousands who were killed and can no longer speak. We are their voice—to remember, to remind, to teach the world, and to warn the world that Jasenovac, Auschwitz, and other extermination camps must never happen again,” Greif told reporters in Kozarska Dubica.
Greif said that until twelve years ago, he had no connection to Balkan history or the history of the Serbian people, or this region in general.
“Now I can say with certainty, without hesitation, that I have become a very good friend of the Serbian people, who have much in common with the Jewish people through their history of suffering, tradition, and heritage,” Greif stated, adding that upon his first visit to the region, he felt the wind of freedom and friendship.
He emphasized that remembering historical facts is very important for international memory and noted that the Israeli people remember and commemorate all historical events.
Senior advisor at the Russian House in Belgrade, Georgy Engelhardt, said that Jasenovac is a notion unto itself, but that the truth about this concentration camp is not as widely known as it should be, due to the scale of the crimes committed.
“There should be more awareness of Jasenovac and all the horrors that occurred during World War II in the territories of the then Independent State of Croatia (NDH), as the genocide committed was the largest in the Balkans in the 20th century. It needs to be studied more, and people need to learn about it,” Engelhardt said, as reported by Srna.
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He added that interest in this topic is now also growing in Russia.
Norwegian historian and writer Knut Flovik Thoresen said that this gathering is very significant as it brings together a large number of historians, stressing the importance of elevating this issue into a shared historical narrative.
He pointed out that the history of Jasenovac is connected to Norway, from where he comes, because 1,700 inmates from Jasenovac were deported to that country.
“It is important to make these facts known to the Norwegian public because this is also part of our wartime history. This is one of the darkest chapters of European history, not just Balkan history, which teaches us what happens when basic human rights are not respected,” Thoresen told reporters.
He emphasized the importance of visiting the Memorial Complex in Donja Gradina to pay respects to the victims and for historians working on this topic to exchange information.
A two-day international scientific conference titled “NDH and the Jasenovac Concentration Camp in Light of Contemporary Research” opened today in Kozarska Dubica, bringing together 20 participants from around the world.
At the conference, opened by Tanja Tuleković, director of the Public Institution Memorial Area Donja Gradina, experts from the Republic of Srpska, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Israel, Russia, and Norway will participate.
The gathering is organized by the Public Institution Memorial Area Donja Gradina under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik.
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Source: B92, Foto: ATA Images