A senior official of the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Wednesday condemned the participation of Croatian right-wing singer Marko Perkovic Thompson in the festivities following the return of the national football team from the World Cup in Russia.

The Wiesenthal Center said that its “chief Nazi-hunter and director of Eastern European Affairs Efraim Zuroff harshly criticized the inclusion of the notorious Ustasha sympathizer singer “Thompson” in the celebration in Zagreb to welcome home the national football team, which surprisingly placed second in the World Cup”.  

Zuroff is quoted as saying that “Thompson is notorious for singing songs which call for the murder of Serbs and related nostalgically to the notorious Croatian concentration camp Jasenovac and its adjacent womens’ camp Stara Gradiska”. The invitation to the mass celebration “gives his fascist views a legitimacy they do not deserve”, Zuroff said.

“Marko Perkovic has never missed an opportunity to transmit his hateful messages. It is no accident that numerous people show up at his concerts wearing Ustasha uniforms and/or symbols and give Ustasha salutes. He should not be an honored guest anywhere, let alone at one of the biggest gatherings in democratic Croatian history to celebrate a magnificent sporting achievement. Luka Modric might indeed have deserved to be World Cup Most Valuable Player, but for inviting Thompson to sing he deserves a red card,” the statement added.  

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre web site says that it is a global human rights organization which was founded by Holocaust survivor Wiesenthal to research the Holocaust and confront anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism, promotes human rights and dignity.  

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