ACKOVIĆ: MORE THAN 40,000 ROMA PERISHED IN DONJA GRADINA

KOZARSKA DUBICA, APRIL 27 /SRNA/ - The President of the Association of Roma of Serbia, Dragoljub Acković, said that more than 40,000 Roma were killed at the Donja Gradina site during the time of the Independent State of Croatia /NDH/, and that exactly 16,173 names have been recorded at the cemetery in Uštica.

“Across the NDH, at least another 20,000 Roma were killed. To find the total number of Roma victims under the NDH, you must add up these figures. These are very difficult times for our country, Serbia, and for Srpska, and we must fight with all our strength," Acković said at the Donja Gradina Memorial Area near Kozarska Dubica, where the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Genocide Against Serbs, Jews, and Roma in the Independent State of Croatia and the 80th anniversary of the breakout from the Jasenovac concentration camp is being marked.

The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, Serbian member and Chairwoman of the Presidency of BiH, Željka Cvijanović, Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, ministers in the governments of Republika Srpska and Serbia, Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, Nenad Stevandić, and Speaker of the Assembly of Serbia Ana Brnabić are attending the commemoration.

Also present are numerous diplomatic representatives, citizens, students, descendants of the victims, as well as local and international media crews.

The Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Genocide against Serbs, Jews, and Roma in the NDH /1941–1945/ and the 80th anniversary of the breakout of inmates from the Jasenovac Concentration Camp is organized in Kozarska Dubica by the Committee for the Commemoration of the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Genocide against Serbs, Jews, and Roma in the NDH.

According to data from the Donja Gradina Memorial Area, 700,000 victims of the Ustasha crime perished in the notorious Jasenovac camp during World War II, including 500,000 Serbs, 40,000 Roma, 33,000 Jews, and 127,000 antifascists. Twenty thousand children also perished in Jasenovac.