SAVE VICTIMS OF JASENOVAC AND DONJA GRADINA FROM OBLIVION

KOZARSKA DUBICA, APRIL 26 /SRNA/ - The Republika Srpska Minister of Education and Culture, Željka Stojičić, said this evening in Kozarska Dubica that the Memorial Academy and tomorrow's commemoration and memorial service in Donja Gradina are the path through which institutions have, in recent years, saved all the victims who suffered in the Ustashe concentration camp Jasenovac and the mass graves in Donja Gradina from oblivion.

Before the Memorial Academy, "The Earth is Silent, the Silence Screams," she said that this period of suffering is a dark chapter in the history of humanity and therefore deserves to be remembered. "I believe we are doing a good job when it comes to the Ministry of Education and Culture, and our educational system is dedicated to preserving and studying the history of that time," Stojičić told reporters. She emphasized that art has great power and that the culture of remembrance can be properly nurtured through culture. "I believe that in the times ahead, we will ensure that the victims are not covered by the dust of oblivion. I think this is the right path – to commemorate this every year," Stojičić said. She reminded that the public institution Memorial Area "Donja Gradina" was established for this purpose, to keep its doors open throughout the year so that our students, those eager to study the history of that time, can obtain all the necessary data and facts about what happened during that period. The Memorial Academy "The Earth is Silent, the Silence Screams" is taking place in Kozarska Dubica as part of the central commemoration of the Day of Remembrance for the victims of genocide against Serbs, Jews, and Roma in the Independent State of Croatia, and the 80th anniversary of the breakout of inmates from the Jasenovac concentration camp. According to data from the Memorial Site Donja Gradina, 700,000 victims of Ustashe crimes perished in the infamous Jasenovac camp during World War II, including 500,000 Serbs, 40,000 Roma, 33,000 Jews, and 127,000 antifascists. Among the victims in Jasenovac were 20,000 children. The last surviving detainees of the Ustaše concentration camp Jasenovac began their breakout on April 22, 1945, in an attempt to escape from this death factory, the largest of its kind in Southeastern Europe.