A memorial tour of sites in Zagreb associated with the Nazi-allied Ustasha regime that ruled Croatia during the Second World War was organised on Saturday ahead of the 80th anniversary of the start of the war in the country.

The topic of anti-fascist resistance is not represented enough in school, even though topics relating to the Ustashas and Partisans are frequent in political and social life, said Tena Banjeglav, one of the authors of the guide “Zagreb in War, Resistance, Artistic Creation and Memory” who took part in the tour.

Students know little about what was going on in Zagreb during Ustasha rule and never heard of the majority of the 50 locations in the city associated with the Ustasha regime. This guide should help them learn more about the sites such as the present-day Student Centre and the secondary school in Križanićeva Street, Banjeglav told the press.

The Student Centre was the site of a transit camp where about 2,500 Jews and many Serbs and communists were held before being transported on to the camps at Koprivnica, Gospic, Jadovno, Pag island and Jasenovac.

Because of the restrictions in place to contain the coronavirus pandemic, only 25 people took part in the tour – teachers, students, diplomats and university professors. They were joined by MP Vili Matula.

The head of the Documenta NGO, Vesna Terselic, said she was pleased that they were joined by the Austrian ambassador and officials of the US Embassy, which helped with the preparation of the guide, and of the Australian Embassy.

She announced that the next memorial walks would be held on 10 April, the day on which the Ustasha-ruled Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was proclaimed in 1941, and on 8 May, the day of liberation of Zagreb in 1945. She invited members of the public to sign up for the tour.

Terselic said that the guide would be formally launched online on 6 April at 11 am when the Second World War began here.