One of the allies at the time was the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) with direct participation of the Ustasha regime at its forefront, said Zagreb Mayor Tomašević, emphasizing that concentration camps in the NDH were established after the Nazi model and that Jews, Serbs, and Roma, as well as all those who opposed the Ustasha regime were systematically imprisoned and killed in them
BY: Nenad Jovanović / Novosti
PHOTO: Nenad Jovanović
On the occasion of marking the Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day – Yom HaShoah, a monument to the victims of the Holocaust and the Ustasha regime was officially unveiled on April 27, 2022 in Zagreb. The monument, located near Zagreb’s Central Train Station, from where groups with more than 800 Jews set out for certain deaths in the Auschwitz camp complex, was unveiled by Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević and Oleg Mandić, a surviving Auschwitz prisoner.
– On the occasion of the commemoration of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah, I humbly stand here with deep respect for the tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma, and all others who were brutally persecuted and killed by the Nazis and the Ustasha regime. Tens of thousands sound like just some numbers, but these are people like me and you. These are the destinies of people who were brutally killed. I stand here in the hope that today’s unveiling of the monument to the victims of the Holocaust and the Ustasha regime will contribute to not forgetting the mistakes of the past and to repeating them as little as possible in the future. Resistance and suffering in Nazi Germany and allied countries are being commemorated, and it must be said that one of the allies was the NDH at the time, with direct participation of the Ustasha regime at its forefront – said Tomašević, emphasizing that concentration camps in the NDH were established after the Nazi model and that Jews, Serbs, and Roma, together with all those who opposed the Ustasha regime were systematically imprisoned and killed in them.
– As the City Administration, we inherited a monument that was not completed due to the inability to agree on the inscription on its plaque. Despite the controversy, we felt that it was our obligation to put into function the monument built with the money of the people of Zagreb. Thanks to an agreement with representatives of Jewish associations, but also with all the genocide victim peoples, the inscription next to the monument clearly reflects the criminal nature of the Ustasha regime. Otherwise, we would have a monument to the victims of the Holocaust tucked away somewhere, as if it does not concern us – said the Zagreb Mayor, commenting on the debate over the name of the monument, adding that the memory of Jewish suffering in Europe does not neglect the victims of the Ustasha regime.
– Every monument needs to do something for the present, but also for the future; it must be a warning and a caution, but it also has to contribute to informing and educating young people about what took place here, which can become a lasting memory to the victims of the Ustasha regime, contribute to a more tolerant future and be a pledge of peace. Although no monument can express the Evil that happened in the city, the country, and Europe, I would like for this monument to help us finally face it in Croatian society, which in one part has still not come to terms with its unwanted past. Facing the dark episodes of our history does not make us weaker, but stronger for living in the present and the future. There is room for everyone in this city and no one should be discriminated against on any grounds – Tomašević emphasised at the end of his speech.
– Remembrance does not only mean living in the past, but trying to tear past experiences from oblivion and make them a pledge of a better future. Trunks and the locomotive convey thoughts of transfers whose destinations, irrelevant and secondary, were Jasenovac, Stara Gradiška, or Auschwitz, as the final part of a sickeningly cruel genocidal policy of the Third Reich embraced by many collaborationist regimes in Europe, including the Ustasha regime in the NDH. The fact that some met their ends being slaughtered on the Sava embankment near Jasenovac, and others suffocated by Cyclone B in Auschwitz, only reveals the colossal scale of the crimes committed. It is up to us to use such monuments to get acquainted with Evil (with a capital E) in its most hidden form, and to find a sprout of good in those experiences, on which it would be desirable to build our future, said Mandić.
– The original inscription on the monument was improper because it should have said what really goes with it. Those people were victims of the Nazis and the Ustasha regime, which carried out these actions merrily – said Milanović.
Ivo Goldstein assesses that the disputes over the inscription were resolved by a compromise that may not satisfy everyone.
– This is the moment when we need to draw the line and say that Zagreb has been given an imposing monument that will stand here for decades, maybe even hundreds of years, to commemorate the tragedy of August 1942. Between 800 and 1,000 Zagreb Jews were deported from this place to Auschwitz, none of whom had returned from there. This is a symbolic place commemorating the genocides and mass crimes that took place between 1941 and 1945. It is important that the monument is located on the site from which people left irrevocably and to tell all travellers and newcomers in three languages – Croatian, English, and Hebrew – about a part of the history of Croatia and Zagreb from 80 years ago – said Goldstein.
As the director of Documenta, Vesna Teršelič, told us, the decision to erect a monument to the victims of the Holocaust and the Ustasha regime followed a long discussion.
– I think the most important thing to point out is that the Ustasha regime was the main perpetrator of the crime. I hope that additional measures will follow that will make it easier for this society to remember the Jews killed in the Holocaust, the Serbs and Roma killed in genocide, as well as all those killed as anti-fascists or seen by the Ustashas as such. The monument is an important step forward, but questions remain about banning the Ustasha symbols, educating the population about the Holocaust and World War II, which includes the genocide against the Serbs and Roma, as well as the liquidation of Zagreb residents killed in Dotrščina. The memorial park there, which has been landscaped beautifully, has very few visitors, especially students – said Teršelič, adding that she expects a thematic session of the Coordination for Human Rights of the City of Zagreb where the City’s attitude towards World War II remembrance in Zagreb and Croatia would be discussed.
The unveiling of the monument was attended by numerous public figures, from former Croatian presidents led by Zoran Milanović, government and parliamentary envoys, Nina Obuljen Koržinek and Krešimir Katičić respectively, to representatives of religious communities who prayed for the dead, and representatives of national minorities and the diplomatic corps, as well as civil society representatives.
PHOTOGALLERY:
Monument to Holocaust and Ustasha Victims Unveiled, April 27, 2022