International Holocaust Remembrance Day was marked in Zagreb and across Croatia on Saturday by representatives of civil society organisations, cities and religious communities, saying that it is necessary to renew the knowledge about the atrocities of WWII so they do not happen ever again.
Representatives of the Antifascist League, the Documenta Centre for Dealing with the Past, the Serb National Council (SNV) and the Free Palestine Initiative laid flowers at several locations in Zagreb, including the site of a synagogue demolished by the Ustasha regime in 1941 and the memorial to Holocaust and Ustasha regime victims.
Learning about the atrocities of WWII should always be present, renewing the knowledge and awareness of what the Holocaust was is necessary, particularly today, here and in Europe, SNV president Milorad Pupovac told the press.
However, in Europe and the world we have people who forget the atrocities of the Holocaust and the war crimes as well as political groups which build their power on messages of hate towards others, he said.
Commenting on the popularity of right-wing populist parties in many European countries, Pupovac pointed to the disappearance of the ideas and policies which had raised full awareness of the fact that peace and political progress could be built only by safeguarding others and in cooperation with them.
He said there was also an inability to continue the policy of tolerance and respect for others, independently of their faith, ethnicity and race.
The genocide against Jews, Roma and Serbs in WWII, when it comes to the 1941-45 Independent State of Croatia, was preceded by their dehumanisation, by declaring them less worthy, said Zoran Pusic, president of the Antifascist League.
A representative of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, pastor Vatroslav Zupancic, said anti-Semitism was on the rise in Europe, notably after the Hamas terrorist group’s attack on Israel last October.
“Today the rise of anti-Semitism is hiding behind anti-Zionism, the existence of the state of Israel is being disputed. But we are glad that the Croatian government has stood by Israel.”
Zupancic noted that neither the Socialist nor the democratic authorities have rebuilt the Zagreb synagogue.
Delegations of the Jewish communities of Osijek and Osijek-Baranja County laid wreaths and lit candles at the Mother and Child monument in the eastern city.
As anti-Semitism is rising across Europe, it’s evident that commemorating the Holocaust remains important, said Damir Lajos, president of the Osijek Jewish Community.
Delegations of the City and County of Varaždin laid wreaths at the memorial at the Jewish cemetery in the northern city.
“Today, we pay our respects to the victims of the Nazi terror, but we are also here to learn a lesson from these restless, challenging times across the world, that human malice and hate can really cause so much unhappiness and evil to people,” Varaždin County prefect Anđelko Stricak said.
The president of the Cakovec Jewish Community, Andrej Pal, said the Holocaust had been the darkest period in the 5,000-year-long history of the Jews.
“In less than six years, more than six million Jews were killed, more than two million children. That was a big turning point which certainly led to a significant change in the course of world history. The Jews who lived in both Varazdin and Cakovec absolutely integrated into the life of the community and contributed to its development,” he said, thanking the City and County of Varazdin for regularly observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
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