RUSSIAN NTV REPORT: SERBS SUFFERED MOST IN WWII

MOSCOW, APRIL 20 /SRNA/ – Russia's NTV has aired a report on the Day of Remembrance for victims of the Ustasha genocide at the Jasenovac concentration camp, marked yesterday in Donja Gradina, stating that Serbs suffered the most during World War II at the hands of Croatian Ustasha forces and are now forced to prove what should be self-evident, that their ancestors were victims.

The report stated that Serbs are compelled to demonstrate that the Jasenovac camp system was a "death factory" no less than Auschwitz, while noting that in neighboring Croatia there is reluctance to revisit that past. It also emphasized that, like the Soviet people, Serbs were on the right side of history during World War II. However, it added that in today's Europe, what was considered right after 1945 no longer appears as fixed or unquestioned. The report pointed out that the number of surviving witnesses, children who were held in the Jasenovac camp, is decreasing with each passing year. Testimonies of former inmates Milutin Vukmirović and Rade Radivojac were featured, accompanied by archival footage. It was noted that while Germans carried out killings in camps such as Dachau and Majdanek, Ustasha forces in Jasenovac killed Serbs, Jews, and Roma using knives, conserving ammunition. According to the report, by April 1945, when the camp was liberated, only 167 people remained alive, while 700,000 were buried in mass graves across 116 hectares. The report also included part of a speech by SNSD leader Milorad Dodik, referred to as the leader of Serbs in BiH, in which he thanked the ambassadors of Russia, the United States and Israel for their solidarity, while questioning the absence of EU ambassadors at the commemoration. "Why are you not here? You should be ashamed. Five hundred thousand Serbs were tortured here, 700,000 people were killed. Is it so difficult to lay wreaths, or is it easier to watch this on television? We will not forget, and I will not forgive," Dodik said. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that some believe silence can hide the truth, but that those who experienced the tragedy must continue to fight for it. "We must build our own memorial complex because we are prevented from visiting the part of Jasenovac in Croatia. That in itself is a disgrace," Vučić said.