BADGE ESTABLISHED AS A SYMBOL OF MARTYRDOM IN JASENOVAC

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 25 /SRNA/ – On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Ustasha Genocide in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), and the 80th anniversary of the breakout of the last group of Jasenovac camp inmates, an authentic badge has been established as a symbol of martyrdom, the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Srpska announced.

The badge visually combines the two most recognizable symbols of Serbian suffering in the Jasenovac camp – the "Poplar of Horror" and the red armband.

"The Poplar of Horror is just one of the tragic symbols of the endless cruelty and savagery of the Ustasha guards toward the inmates of the Jasenovac camp. A large poplar tree, located within the camp complex, was often obscured from view by the bodies of men, women, and children hanged there after being tortured by guards," the statement said.

To more easily identify and categorize prisoners, the Ustashas placed colored armbands on their arms upon entry into the camp.

Columns of exhausted, tormented, and sorrowful Serbs entered their deaths bearing a red armband, the statement notes.

At the Memorial Area in Donja Gradina, near Kozarska Dubica, on Sunday, April 27, the Day of Remembrance for the victims of Ustasha crimes – genocide in the Jasenovac concentration camp and its largest execution site, Donja Gradina – will be commemorated.

The NDH system of death camps included around 80 camps, and Donja Gradina, as the largest execution site within the Jasenovac system, was established in August 1941.

The last surviving detainees of the Jasenovac Ustasha concentration camp began their breakout on April 22, 1945, in an attempt to escape from that factory of death, the largest in Southeastern Europe.

According to data from the Donja Gradina Memorial Center, during World War II around 700,000 people were killed in the notorious Jasenovac camp by the Ustashas, including 500,000 Serbs, 40,000 Roma, 33,000 Jews, and 127,000 anti-fascists. Among the victims were 20,000 children.

The Government of Republika Srpska has declared April 27 a Day of Mourning in remembrance of the victims of Ustasha genocide against Serbs, Jews, and Roma in the NDH from 1941 to 1945.