ĐOKIĆ: TRUTH AND REMEMBRANCE - OUR DUTY TOWARD VICTIMS OF JASENOVAC

DONJA GRADINA, APRIL 19 /SRNA/ - The Minister of Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska, Petar Đokić, told SRNA in Donja Gradina that it is a sacred duty of Serbs never to allow the victims of the Ustasha crime in Jasenovac to be diminished or history to be rewritten.

He stressed that Donja Gradina is the largest execution site where countless lives were lost during the NDH /Independent State of Croatia/ period, but also where the responsibility is born for all generations of Serbs never to forget, so that such evil never repeats itself. Đokić, who is attending the commemoration of the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Ustasha genocide in the Jasenovac concentration camp, emphasized that the Serbian message from this site of suffering is that memory is the only shield and truth is the path, because only in that way can a society be built on justice, freedom, and dignity. “We stand today in silence and pain before the magnitude of the suffering of our people in Donja Gradina, a place that has become a symbol of genocide and immense suffering. On this soil, within the Jasenovac camp system, hundreds of thousands of innocent people - Serbs, Jews, Roma, and antifascists - were killed from 1941 to 1945,” Đokić stated. Đokić said that paying tribute to the innocent victims of the Ustasha crime is a moral and historical duty. “Every victim has a name, every family carries pain, and every tear is a warning that the evil that happened must never repeat itself,” Đokić said. He noted that today, as flags are flown at half-mast in Republika Srpska and a memorial service is held in Donja Gradina, it has been confirmed that the victims have not been forgotten. Đokić said that the victims of the brutal killings create an obligation to preserve peace, nurture unity, and pass on the truth to future generations. “Donja Gradina is a place of sorrow, but also a place of strength. We remember, we preserve memory, but we also know that strength and wisdom are born from suffering, because we survived and we exist even though they wanted to erase our name and generations,” Đokić said. The Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Ustasha genocide in the Jasenovac concentration camp is being marked in Kozarska Dubica and Donja Gradina today, with the presence of the highest officials of Republika Srpska and Serbia. According to data from the Donja Gradina Memorial Area, 700,000 victims of Ustasha crimes perished in the notorious Jasenovac camp during World War II, including 500,000 Serbs, 40,000 Roma, 33,000 Jews, and 127,000 antifascists. In Jasenovac, 20,000 children were killed. The Government of Republika Srpska declared April 19 a Day of Mourning in Republika Srpska to mark the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Ustasha genocide in the Jasenovac concentration camp and its largest execution site, Donja Gradina in the NDH, from 1941 to 1945.