On the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the world commemorates one of the darkest periods in human history – the systemic persecution, genocide and suffering of the Jewish people. Croatia joins the remembrance of the date when the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated in 1945. It is an opportunity to pay respects to the millions of innocent men, women and children killed solely because of their religion or ethnicity.
It is important to educate younger generations, especially in schools, about the unimaginable suffering, degradation and murder of millions of innocent victims, and the tragedy of the Jewish people throughout occupied Europe. The Holocaust also took place in the so-called Independent State of Croatia, in camps such as Jasenovac, Tenja, Danica, Jadovno, Slana and Đakovo, with some citizens deported to camps such as Auschwitz, never to return to their homes and families.
This day is also an opportunity to pay respects to the Croatian Righteous Among the Nations, 130 of them, who risked their lives during World War II to save their fellow citizens of Jewish faith. To them we pay our deepest respects, while to those who survived, the families of the Righteous and those who saved themselves, we vow never to forget.
Croatia supports the fight against all forms of racism and discrimination, and nurtures the culture of Holocaust remembrance. In March this year, Croatia will start its one-year presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which is yet another testament to our commitment to the fight against antisemitism and to the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust victims.
Preparing for the presidency, the Croatian Government on 20 January 2023 structured the activity governing body and adopted the legally non-binding Working Definition of Antisemitism, the Working Definition of Holocaust Denial and Distortion, and Working Definition of Antigypsyism/Anti-Roma Discrimination.
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