Zuroff visits former concentration camp

BELGRADE Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, visited on Tuesday the former concentration camp Staro Sajmiste and paid tribute to the victims. Zuroff was accompanied by Bishop of Ljipljan Jovan, Vicar Bishop of Patriarch Irinej, Mladjan Djordjevic, founder of the Srpski Kod (Serbian Code) association, and Milan Koljanin, senior associate scientist at the Institute for Contemporary History. Zuroff visits former concentration camp According to the data of the State Commission for Investigating the Crimes of the Occupying Forces and Their Helpers, from 1941 until 1944 around 100,000 women, children and elderly people were interned in concentration camp, ran by the occupying German Nazi forces. Nearly 40 percent of the prisoners were executed. The majority of internees were Serbs, Jews and Roma. Efraim Zuroff (L) (Tanjug) "Operation Last Chance" Efraim Zuroff announced on Tuesday that the operation dubbed Last Chance aimed at bringing Nazi war criminals to justice will also be carried out in Serbia soon. Zuroff warned about the growth of neo-fascism everywhere in the European Union, especially in certain eastern countries such as Croatia, when the situation has deteriorated since Stjepan Mesic left the president's office. There are three reasons for my visit to Belgrade: the first one is to lay the groundwork for launching Operation Last Chance, the project aimed at finding Nazi war criminals as part of which a reward will be offered for useful pieces of information, which can help find those criminals in Serbia in the next three months, Zuroff said in an interview to Tanjug. Last Chance is probably the last major effort to bring Nazi criminals to justice, so far it has been carried out in Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Austria, Croatia and Hungary. The operation is a joint project of the SWC and Targum Shlishi Foundation. Zuroff explained that he came to Belgrade to promote his book "Operation Last Chance", which came out in Serbian, and visit the former death camp Staro Sajmiste, an important site in the history of World War II, Holocaust and terrible crimes that took place in Serbia. Zuroff noted that neo-fascism is on the rise, adding that this should be dealt with. There are many reasons for that: the economic recession, globalization, fear of losing the national identity, but part of the problem also lies in the fact that Brussels is asleep, he said, adding that one would expect that new member states should have espoused the European values before joining the bloc. However, we are witnessing attempts in all states of the EU, especially in the countries such as Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia and others, at historical revisionism concerning the Holocaust in World War II, the growth of neo-fascism, election of right-wing officials with the ultra-nationalist agenda, Zuroff said. Zuroff qualified as shameful the incident at the Maksimir stadium in Zagreb, when Croatian football player Josip Simunic took the microphone after a match and shouted an infamous salute of Croatia's WW2-era fascist Ustasha regime, and noted that the reaction of several thousand sports fans who responded to it gave even more cause for concern. Zuroff said that Serbia is probably one of the few countries in Eastern Europe that appreciate the Simon Wiesenthal Center work, noting that the Serbian Orthodox Church and local groups also back the efforts of this center. Tanjug

Zuroff visits former concentration camp

According to the data of the State Commission for Investigating the Crimes of the Occupying Forces and Their Helpers, from 1941 until 1944 around 100,000 women, children and elderly people were interned in concentration camp, ran by the occupying German Nazi forces.

Nearly 40 percent of the prisoners were executed. The majority of internees were Serbs, Jews and Roma.

"Operation Last Chance"

Efraim Zuroff announced on Tuesday that the operation dubbed Last Chance aimed at bringing Nazi war criminals to justice will also be carried out in Serbia soon.

Zuroff warned about the growth of neo-fascism everywhere in the European Union, especially in certain eastern countries such as Croatia, when the situation has deteriorated since Stjepan Mesić left the president's office.

There are three reasons for my visit to Belgrade: the first one is to lay the groundwork for launching Operation Last Chance, the project aimed at finding Nazi war criminals as part of which a reward will be offered for useful pieces of information, which can help find those criminals in Serbia in the next three months, Zuroff said in an interview to Tanjug.

Last Chance is probably the last major effort to bring Nazi criminals to justice, so far it has been carried out in Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Austria, Croatia and Hungary.

The operation is a joint project of the SWC and Targum Shlishi Foundation.

Zuroff explained that he came to Belgrade to promote his book "Operation Last Chance", which came out in Serbian, and visit the former death camp Staro Sajmište, an important site in the history of World War II, Holocaust and terrible crimes that took place in Serbia.

Zuroff noted that neo-fascism is on the rise, adding that this should be dealt with.

There are many reasons for that: the economic recession, globalization, fear of losing the national identity, but part of the problem also lies in the fact that Brussels is asleep, he said, adding that one would expect that new member states should have espoused the European values before joining the bloc.

However, we are witnessing attempts in all states of the EU, especially in the countries such as Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia and others, at historical revisionism concerning the Holocaust in World War II, the growth of neo-fascism, election of right-wing officials with the ultra-nationalist agenda, Zuroff said.

Zuroff qualified as shameful the incident at the Maksimir stadium in Zagreb, when Croatian football player Josip Šimunić took the microphone after a match and shouted an infamous salute of Croatia's WW2-era fascist Ustasha regime, and noted that the reaction of several thousand sports fans who responded to it gave even more cause for concern.

Zuroff said that Serbia is probably one of the few countries in Eastern Europe that appreciate the Simon Wiesenthal Center work, noting that the Serbian Orthodox Church and local groups also back the efforts of this center.