CROATIAN PARLIAMENT ALLOWED REVISIONISM AND JUSTIFICATION OF A CRIMINAL IDEOLOGY

ZAGREB, NOVEMBER 1 /SRNA/ - The Coordination of Jewish Communities in Croatia stated that the Croatian Parliament has allowed the spread of revisionism, the diminishing of the scale of crimes, and the justification of a criminal ideology that left behind tens of thousands of murdered Serbs, Jews, and Roma.

The Coordination expressed outrage and concern over the round table on the victims of Jasenovac, emphasizing that the Parliament - as the country's highest representative body - enabled an event that openly relativizes the crimes of the Ustasha regime and insults the memory of the victims of one of Europe's most horrific death camps. They stressed that the victims of Jasenovac deserve peace, dignity, and truth instead of constant attacks, distortion of facts, and humiliation of their suffering. Any attempt to deny the scope of the NDH crimes, they said, represents not only a historical falsehood but also a moral and civilizational disgrace for Croatia. In an open letter to the public, the Coordination noted that it was precisely in the Croatian Parliament - which should embody fundamental civilizational values, anti-fascism, and historical truth - that revisionism, the minimization of crimes, and justification of a criminal ideology were allowed to take place. "It is shameful and disturbing that some members of Parliament not only failed to condemn such a gathering but also supported or attended it. By doing so, they sent a message that there is still political will in Croatia to rehabilitate Ustashism - an ideology that stands against every form of human dignity and democratic principle," the letter said. The Coordination of Jewish Communities in Croatia called on all responsible institutions, the academic community, and citizens to clearly and unequivocally oppose the relativization of Ustashism and to defend the core values of anti-fascism on which modern Europe and, as they stated, Croatia itself are founded. "Remembrance of the victims of Jasenovac is not merely a matter of the past, but of our collective morality and responsibility toward future generations. It is a matter of humanity," the Coordination emphasized. At the round table, held on October 28 in the Croatian Parliament, participants claimed that Stara Gradiška, Jasenovac, and Lepoglava were indeed camps but that there were no mass executions - especially not of tens of thousands of people - and that the number of victims and their names were falsified.