The 75th Anniversary of the break-out from Jasenovac
April 22, 1945 - April 22, 2020
Ilan Mor, the Ambassador of the State of Israel has published the following statement:
"Today (April 22, 2020) marks the 75th anniversary of the heroic break-out from Jasenovac, the notorious Ustasha concentration and extermination camp, where thousands of innocent people were imprisoned and murdered.
We are all obliged to remember and to respect the memory of the victims.
On this day, we must remind ourselves of the criminal character of the so-called “Independent State of Croatia” (NDH) and of its evil politics against the Jews, the Serbs, the Roma people and against the Anti-Fascists. Horrible acts were perpetrated in Jasenovac by the Ustasha, one of the most deplorable regimes that collaborated with the Nazis. The leadership of the Ustasha and its henchmen were motivated by the Nazi ideology of Anti-Semitism, racism, nationalism, religious intolerance and hate.
On this day, in the middle of this current global pandemic, which makes no distinction between men, women and children, we should re-commit ourselves to human solidarity, mutual responsibility and respect and to an uncompromising fight against Antisemitism and hatred, which are also spreading, like the virus, around the world.
On this day we must continue to raise our voices against the increasing negative trends of denying, negating and relativizing of the Shoah (Holocaust) and the criminal nature of the Nazi ideology and the collaborators of Nazi Germany, including the "Independent State of Croatia" (NDH).
We should vehemently and actively object to any legislation or any attempt to silence historical researches regarding the Nazi crimes and the regimes which were their allies and collaborators.
Confronting the crimes of the past is a long journey that must be pursued with determination, courage and perseverance despite all the difficulties.
Only by courageously confronting the past and by educating the younger generations, we will assure that what happened in Jasenovac and elsewhere in Europe will Never Again repeat itself.
We indeed have this obligation to ourselves, to our families and friends and also to the future: to remember what happened - as a lesson and as a warning.
The Shoah (Holocaust) happened – so it can happen again”.
Ilan Mor,
Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of Croatia.
April 22, 2020