DODIK: TRUTH IS THE FIRST VICTIM OF OBLIVION - FREEDOM IS THE SECOND

BANJA LUKA, MAY 14 /SRNA/ – Serbs, alongside Jews and Roma, were the only people subjected to industrial and sadistic extermination in the concentration camps of the NDH /Independent State of Croatia/, which is a sacrifice that must never be forgotten as it forms the foundation of today's Europe, emphasized Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska.

"While the contributions of great powers and the bravery of young men from the United States who fell in the battles is constantly being spoken of, we must not forget that the Serb people bore a burden measured not only in hundreds of thousands of deaths but in entire families destroyed, villages burned to the ground, and roots erased.

America lost 400,000 soldiers in the fight for freedom - a heroic contribution that deserves respect and remembrance. But Serbia and the Serb people paid for that freedom with the blood and tears of millions of innocents," stated President Dodik in an op-ed for Glas Srpske.

The full text of the Republika Srpsla president's editorial follows:

"I've returned from Moscow, a city where Republika Srpska is recognised as a proud, dignified, resolute, and sincere international stakeholder. There, on Red Square, I stood shoulder to shoulder with those who know what it means to fight and die for freedom.

Republika Srpska was welcomed as a friend, and I am proud to have stood under its name, proud that Republika Srpska had its place among those who fought against fascism and who today stand for truth.

The Soviet Union suffered unimaginable losses- more than 27 million people perished during the Second World War. Yes, 27 million! That is more than the total losses of the United States, Great Britain, and France combined. That number bears witness to the price Russia paid for the world’s freedom.

Watching that parade, I remembered those sacrifices. I remembered that without them, perhaps there would be no modern Europe, perhaps not even the kind of freedom we now take for granted.

What about the Serbs? What is the place of the Serb people in the fight against fascism today? In the territory of the former Yugoslavia, between 1941 and 1945, around 1,027,000 people died, the vast majority of whom were Serbs. In that blood-soaked tally, the Serb struggle was unbreakable, and the losses immeasurable.

While the courage of great powers is commemorated, we must not forget that the Serb people bore a burden that destroyed entire families, razed villages, and severed ancestral roots.

America lost 400,000 soldiers - a heroic loss. But Serbia and the Serb people shed the blood and tears of millions for that same freedom. Serbs, together with Jews and Roma, were victims of industrial and sadistic extermination in the NDH’s concentration camps. That sacrifice must not be forgotten - it is a cornerstone of today’s Europe.

While I was there, among those who understand what it means to fight and die for freedom, I also felt the strength of the friendships Republika Srpska has with those who remain loyal to the truth. Two of the world’s top three leaders -Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi - have proven they are true friends of Republika Srpska.

In a time when the world is undergoing profound changes - comparable only to those after the defeat of Nazism - Republika Srpska has strong allies. Allies who understand the fight against hegemony, against the rewriting of history and truth.

Revisionism is not only a danger to history - it's a threat to the present and the future. If we allow the truth to be changed, what's to stop us from becoming victims again? If history is rewritten, then victims become perpetrators, liberators become criminals.

That is why today, with the experience of Moscow fresh in my mind, I say: We will not forget. We will not allow the truth of our fight against fascism to be taken from us. We will not forget the 27 million Russians and the hundreds of thousands of Serbs who gave their lives for freedom.

I am proud that Republika Srpska today stands alongside Russia, shoulder to shoulder, in the fight against oblivion. I am proud that we, the descendants of those who defeated fascism, are here today to defend truth from lies and keep the memory from falling into oblivion.

Eternal glory to all the heroes of the Great Patriotic War and World War II. Eternal glory to the Russian and Serbian soldiers who gave the world its freedom, as they gave their lives so the world could be free. It is up to us to ensure their sacrifice was not in vain."