Bećirović in Jasenovac: Statesmen pay respect to all innocent victims

(Patria) - Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Bećirović visited today the Jasenovac Memorial Area and Memorial Center on the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

“By visiting the Jasenovac Memorial Center, on the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, as a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I express deep reverence for all innocent victims. We must speak about the victims truthfully, based on facts and with dignity.

In the Ustasha camps of Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška, a huge number of Serbs, Jews, Roma, as well as anti-fascist Croats, Bosniaks and others who opposed fascist terror and fratricide were led to death. In Jasenovac and elsewhere, we must constantly point out that we must most strongly condemn the atrocities and not allow them to be forgotten.

For the sake of the future of generations to come, it is very important to show the deepest respect for every victim and pay full tribute to them. Politicians in our region must also understand this and show statesmanlike responsibility to bow to victims of other peoples, not only to victims of the people they belong to. That is the only path to a safer future. We must teach new generations to be, above all, good people, to have empathy for other peoples, to be able to recognize and understand the emotions of others.

We live in a time of great global crises and challenges. Around the world we see forces that propagate hatred, intolerance and chauvinism. These are the roots of fascism and other totalitarian ideologies. That is why we must recognize them in time. We must point them out in order to, above all, warn young generations of the evil that can happen if they follow the paths of hatred, chauvinism and fascism.
 
We in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be proud of anti-fascism and anti-fascists. Bosnia and Herzegovina is an anti-fascist state. Its statehood was restored by anti-fascists and we are proud of that.”