The central commemoration was held at Donja Gradina Memorial Zone, as part of the marking the Remembrance Day of the victims of the Ustasha’s crime at the Jasenovac camp and at its biggest execution site Donja Gradina. The marking of the Remembrance Day started with the Holy Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at Kozarska Dubica, and after that the numerous delegations and officials laid wreaths of flowers at the Grave Yard Topole at the Memorial Zone Donja Gradina. At the Grave Yard Hrastovi, there followed an Orthodox Dirge for the victims of the Ustasha’s genocide, and also the prayers for the orthodox, Jewish and Roma victims were said.

Around ten thousand people were present at the Dirge and the prayers for the victims at Donja Gradina, and among them there were numerous primary and secondary school students. The commemoration was lead by the President of the Republic of Srpska, Mr Milorad Dodik, and the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Ms Maja Gojković. Besides the officials of the Republic of Srpska and Serbia, the officials of the BiH institutions, Israel, Jewish community, Roma community and other organisations and associations, as well as numerous international officials and diplomatic corps members were present at the commemoration at Donja Gradina.

The President of the Republic of Srpska, Mr Milorad Dodik said that the Jasenovac camp was a criminal state project of the so called NDH, and that nobody was claimed responsible for the atrocities. The atrocities, said Mr Dodik, haven’t been categorised as genocide of Serbs, Jewish and Roma people. He reminded that on April, 22nd, 1945, only a group of 1.100 survivors from the camp made a breakthrough from the camp, at the moment when the whole world had already known that the World War Two was about to an end.”They started the breakthrough to be living witnesses of what had been and to make life go on”, he added.

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Ms Maja Gojković, said that nobody would ever let denials, justifying and forgetting of the atrocities. She stated that, in the name of the memories of the Jasenovac victims, as well as in the name of the youth who are to come , at every place and every time, we have to speak loudly about the atrocities and sufferings at one of the worst concentration camps from the World War Two, in order to make impossible for such a crime to happen ever again. She added that even now, more than seven decades later, we could ask ourselves how could be possible that so passionate hate could exist in some people towards another human beings, just because the other humans were Serbs, Jews and Roma.

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