Anniversary of Mauthausen's closure: BiH faces new crimes due to negligence towards victims

LINZ, (Patria) – A delegation of the Association of Camp Inmates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by President Jasmin Mešković, along with delegations from 60 other countries laid a wreath today at the central sarcophagus in the city of Linz, Austria, paying tribute to the victims of the Nazi camp Mauthausen.

Mauthausen concentration camp was the largest Nazi camp during World War II in the territory of present-day Austria. It was located in Mauthausen, 15 km east of Linz, and existed from August 8, 1938, until its liberation by the US Army on May 5, 1945.

This year's commemoration of the victims of the Nazis in Mauthausen is held under the slogan 'They are not numbers - they are people'.

'We are trying to draw a parallel with the status that camp inmates have in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To a large extent, camp inmates in Bosnia and Herzegovina are just numbers. Even incomplete numbers, because no one in the country knows how many people went through the camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the nineties. It would be good if we in BiH also started to understand that these are not numbers, but people who survived great torture and suffering, many of them were killed,' Mešković told the Patria agency.

Mešković points out that today in Linz, for the sake of the victims and generations who do not remember the Nazi camps and terror of the 1940s, while at the same time knowing little about the terror of the 1990s that affected Bosnia and Herzegovina.

'We are conveying a testimony, a truth about what happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Europe in those years.'

Mešković warns that there are fewer and fewer people attending the commemoration of important dates of suffering in Bosnia and Herzegovina every year.

'These dates are mostly commemorated by surviving victims and their families and friends. Those who should be in the front row, those who lead and represent us, are not there. There is also no Law on the Rights of Victims of Torture in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to such a negligent attitude of institutions towards camp victims, there is a possibility that crimes will happen again,' emphasizes Jasmin Mešković.

 

Victims from Bosnia and Herzegovina received a memorial plaque in 2016 at the current museum complex of Mauthausen. Photo Patria

There are no exact data on the number of camp inmates from Bosnia and Herzegovina who went through the horrors of Mauthausen, or were killed in that camp, while approximate data indicate several hundred victims originating from BiH, which is why victims from Bosnia and Herzegovina received a memorial plaque in 2016 at the current museum complex of Mauthausen.