Jasenovac concentration camp

From August 1941 to April 1945, hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, and Romas, as well as anti-fascists of many nationalities, were murdered at the death camp known as Jasenovac.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on Thursday received the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Efraim Zuroff, Archbishop John of Pakrac and Slavonia of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) and Ruta Vaganaite, a Lithuanian writer and author of the book Our People.

Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the ecumenical leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, will visit the concentration camp at Jasenovac that was run by Croatia’s Nazi-allied WWII-era regime.

BELGRADE - Serbia and Republika Srpska (RS) will on August 4 together commemorate the anniversary of the 1995 expulsion of Serbs from the then Srpska Krajina and Croatia, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Thursday.

Anti-fascists held an alternative memorial for victims of the Jasenovac concentration camp after boycotting the state ceremony, accusing officials of downplaying the Croatian WWII Nazi-allied regime’s crimes.

Senior ministers attended the official annual commemoration at the Jasenovac concentration camp, but Croatian Serbs held a separate event amid an ongoing dispute about the country’s Nazi-allied WWII regime.

Former Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has said he will boycott the official state commemoration for the victims of the Ustasha death camp Jasenovac.

He said that "despite its strong anti-fascist tradition, the emergence of ustashism is being tolerated in Croatia."

The Serbian National Council (SNV) in Croatia has made a unanimous decision not to take part in Croatia's commemoration event for the victims of Jasenovac camp.

Do not dream about revenge, dream about life, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic "urged everyone, even the victims," Tanjug reported.

He spoke on Sunday, the anniversary of the foundation of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) - a Nazi-allied WW2-era entity ruled by the Ustasha regime that operated death camps for Serbs, Jews, and Roma, including Jasenovac.

Israeli ambassador Zina Kalay Kleitman said in an open letter on Thursday that the new documentary film Jasenovac - The Truth offered a selective view of history and was offensive to the families of those who died at the concentration camp.