USTASHA CHECKERBOARD PATTERN PAINTED ON ORTHODOX CROSS ON PAG ISLAND

ZAGREB, OCTOBER 28 /SRNA/ – A group of vandals painted over a restored Orthodox cross at the site of the former Ustasha concentration camp at Slana, on the island of Pag, in the colours of the Croatian checkerboard coat of arms with the first white square, a symbol associated with the Independent State of Croatia and the Ustasha regime.

In addition to repainting the cross, which has stood at the site for more than 15 years, the vandals used spray paint to draw part of the Croatian coat of arms on the nearby rocky terrain, the Serb National Council’s news portal Novosti reported. The report recalls that Novalja Mayor and HDZ MP Ivan Dabo opposed the installation of a memorial plaque at the former school in Metajna, near Slana Cove, where nearly 300 women and children of Jewish and Serb origin were detained, very few of whom survived. In June, a new, fourth memorial plaque commemorating the victims of the Slana and Metajna camps was installed at Slana Cove. A month later, it was smashed again.