WREATH LAID IN MEMORY OF SERB AND JEWISH VICTIMS OF WORLD WAR II

MODRIČA, MARCH 29 /SRNA/ – A tribute was paid and a wreath lowered from the Old Bridge into the Bosna River in Modriča today, in memory of the suffering of Jews and Serbs in March 1942.

The wreath was lowered by President of the Jewish Community of Doboj Danijel Atijas, President of the Jewish Community of Novi Sad Ladislav Trajer, and Mayor of Modriča Jovica Radulović.

Atijas said that this is the third time a memorial service has been organized for 15 Serbs and one Jew who were executed and then thrown into the Bosna River in March 1942 at the site of today’s Old Bridge.

He noted that of the 14 Jews who lived in Modriča, 13 were taken to Jasenovac, where they were killed.

He stressed that such crimes must never happen again.

"The goal is to establish cooperation in the culture of remembrance between the Jewish community and the municipality of Modriča, as well as other institutions in Modriča and Doboj," Atijas said.

The mayor of Modriča announced plans to install a memorial plaque with the names of those killed on the bridge in 1942.