"Serb-Jewish ties unaffected by controversy"

The director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center says unless the Jasa Tomic statue is taken down in Novi Sad, he will consider returning his honorary citizenship. "I certainly wouldn’t like the statue to remain, particularly not where it is now, in the very center of Novi Sad,“ Efraim Zuroff told daily Politika. "Serb-Jewish ties unaffected by controversy" “I think something needs to be done about that issue, and it's being looked into by the City Council that launched the process with its decision to form a committee,“ he said. “And I’m glad that they took that step, as it will allow me to accept my honorary citizenship,“ he said, adding that the best solution would be if the statue was removed. “There might be other good solutions,“ said the Simon Wiesenthal director, stressing that he would nonetheless have preferred had it never been erected in the first place, “because Jasa Tomic made anti-semitic remarks, that’s to say he was an anti semite, while the majority of people don’t even know this.“ “That sculpture is much more closely linked with the tussle to gain control over Vojvodina than with issues of relations between Serbs, Jews and Hungarians. In that respect, I don’t want to get involved, it’s not my field. That’s a separate issue,“ he said. “What’s most important now is to stress that there are people who oppose anti-semitism, who want to create a more tolerant and more open society, and that’s something I certainly do want to be involved in,“ said Zuroff. The Simon Wiesenthal director said that he wanted to be “part of the process of combating anti-semitism,“ and that becoming an honorary citizen of Novi Sad would make it easier for him to be active in that field. To the observation that the case had triggered a dispute over history and Serbian-Jewish relations, he replied that “there is no dispute“ as far as these relations are concerned. “Both Serbs and Jews want murderers to be brought to justice. In that respect, there are no problems between us, we all have the same goal, in that we’re united, like brothers. Amicable relations between Serbs and Jews are unharmed, and we want them to develop and become even stronger in future,“ said Zuroff. Efraim Zuroff (FoNet, archive)

"Serb-Jewish ties unaffected by controversy"

“I think something needs to be done about that issue, and it's being looked into by the City Council that launched the process with its decision to form a committee,“ he said.

“And I’m glad that they took that step, as it will allow me to accept my honorary citizenship,“ he said, adding that the best solution would be if the statue was removed.

“There might be other good solutions,“ said the Simon Wiesenthal director, stressing that he would nonetheless have preferred had it never been erected in the first place, “because Jaša Tomić made anti-semitic remarks, that’s to say he was an anti semite, while the majority of people don’t even know this.“

“That sculpture is much more closely linked with the tussle to gain control over Vojvodina than with issues of relations between Serbs, Jews and Hungarians. In that respect, I don’t want to get involved, it’s not my field. That’s a separate issue,“ he said.

“What’s most important now is to stress that there are people who oppose anti-semitism, who want to create a more tolerant and more open society, and that’s something I certainly do want to be involved in,“ said Zuroff.

The Simon Wiesenthal director said that he wanted to be “part of the process of combating anti-semitism,“ and that becoming an honorary citizen of Novi Sad would make it easier for him to be active in that field.

To the observation that the case had triggered a dispute over history and Serbian-Jewish relations, he replied that “there is no dispute“ as far as these relations are concerned.

“Both Serbs and Jews want murderers to be brought to justice. In that respect, there are no problems between us, we all have the same goal, in that we’re united, like brothers. Amicable relations between Serbs and Jews are unharmed, and we want them to develop and become even stronger in future,“ said Zuroff.