Republika Srpska marked the Day of Remembrance for children killed during the genocide against Serbs, Jews and Roma in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). During the Second World War, more than 74,000 children were killed or died in the NDH in what authorities describe as some of the most brutal circumstances, including more than 19,000 children in the Jasenovac concentration camp alone.
Serb children were killed at numerous execution sites. In Prebilovci, Ustasha forces killed 120 children under the age of 12, while 551 children were killed in Drakulić, Motike and Šargovac near Banja Luka.
A memorial service for all children killed in the NDH was held at the memorial ossuary in the Macure hamlet. Among those attending were Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, Nikola Vučen, envoy of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Republika Srpska Minister of Family, Youth and Sports Irena Ignjatović, Prijedor Mayor Slobodan Javor, and officials from municipalities and cities across the Potkozarje region.
Those present also included Viktor Nuždić, Director of the Republika Srpska Center for Research of War, War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons, members of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, representatives of the Third Infantry (Republika Srpska) Regiment, the Republika Srpska Association of Anti-Fascist Fighters (SUBNOR), non-governmental organizations, and public interest associations established by veterans of the Homeland Defense War.
Following the memorial service, wreaths and flowers were laid.
Dodik said that the Ustasha crimes against children must never be forgotten or forgiven.
“We have gathered here to mark the Day of Remembrance for children killed during the genocide against Serbs, Jews and Roma in the NDH from 1941 to 1945, here on Kozara and beneath Kozara,” Dodik said, adding that one of the defining features of these crimes was the existence of children’s camps.
“They killed children here just as they did in Drakulić and many other places, in Prebilovci and wherever they went, gathering children regardless of their age and killing them simply because they were Serbs, because they belonged to our faith,” Dodik said.
He added that the perpetrators sought to destroy the future of the Serbian people.
Nikola Vučen, envoy of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, said that genocide had been committed against the Serbian people and stressed that such crimes must never be forgotten.
“It is important that we preserve the culture of remembrance surrounding these events so that people understand the true scale of the suffering,” Vučen said, adding that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik had elevated the commemoration of Serbian victims to a much higher level.
Source: RTRS
