KRESTIĆ: DUE TO ITS FASCIST IDEOLOGY, WESTERN EUROPE HAS FAILED TO RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE AGAINST SERBS

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 13 /SRNA/ – Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts /SANU/ member Vasilije Krestić said that, apart from present-day Croatia, the genocide committed against Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia /NDH/ is not recognized elsewhere in Europe, claiming that "fascist tendencies are still widespread across Western Europe."

"We cannot expect those who are still fascists and who committed such crimes to acknowledge them," Krestić told SRNA ahead of the Serbian Orthodox Church's observance today of the Feast of the Holy New Martyrs of Jasenovac.

Krestić noted that European countries had recognized the crimes committed against Jews during the Second World War, but questioned how long they would continue to do so and whether that recognition could eventually be challenged.

He said Europe was facing a deep crisis countries, everything becomes clear. The politicians who brought about the recognition of the Holocaust are no longer around. Unfortunately, today's political world is not at a high level intellectually in which everything had been devalued, adding that, when it comes to history, "we are moving backwards"."

"When you look at who is leading European countries, everything becomes clear. The politicians who brought about the recognition of the Holocaust are no longer around. Unfortunately, today's political world is not at a high level intellectually, politically or morally. Everything has deteriorated, everything has been devalued, and when it comes to history, we are moving backwards," Krestić warned.

The academic said there was still a tendency to downplay crimes against Serbs, but stressed that Serbs themselves must do more to preserve the memory of their suffering.

He noted that, unlike Republika Srpska, whose National Assembly adopted a declaration in October 2015, Serbia still has no such document.

"How many times has the Serbian Parliament put this issue on its agenda without adopting a decision? Why should we expect foreigners to recognize that we suffered genocide when our own parliament has not adopted such a decision?" Krestić asked.

Regarding the number of Serbs killed in the NDH, Krestić said historical sources clearly show that the figure was no lower than 700,000, although he claimed the number had been systematically understated. He added that determining the full scale of the genocide would require, among other things, further investigation of mass killing sites.

Krestić said he was angered that even in Serbia there were people who rejected figures reported by German officers, who had been well informed about the persecution, the methods used and the number of victims in the NDH.

ROMA VICTIMS ALSO LACK COMPLETE RECORDS, BUT ESTIMATES REMAIN

Roma, one of the groups that suffered the greatest losses on European soil during the war, also do not have a complete record of all their victims, but their representatives continue to stand by historians' estimates.

Dejan Marković, president of the Roma Forum of Serbia, told SRNA that the exact number of Roma killed in the NDH has yet to be established, but historical records indicate that around 40,000, and possibly more, were killed.

"Estimates range from 40,000 to just a few hundred. Some even deny that Roma were held at the Jasenovac concentration camp. However, around 16,000 Roma were held and killed in the Luštica area of the Jasenovac complex alone. Many Roma were also killed in villages around Kozara," Marković said.

He noted that official records, including names, exist for around 20,000 Roma who were killed in the NDH.

Marković said he did not know what figure for Roma victims in the NDH is recognized by present-day Croatia, noting that Croatian officials have offered widely differing interpretations.

"This has become a matter of daily politics rather than history. There are also quazi historians who deny that genocide was committed against Roma during the Second World War," Marković said.

He stated that Roma were barely mentioned in public discourse in present-day Croatia when victims of the NDH are discussed, or are simply described as victims without any serious analysis of why, how or how many were killed.

He also said Roma had never received wartime reparations for the genocide committed against them or for their property that was destroyed.

"Roma inclusion and emancipation existed between the two world wars /in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia/. At that time, Roma had their own homes and cultural centers - premises used by Roma associations and they also published newspapers," Marković said.