Vulin pays tribute to Jadovno prison camp victims

JADOVNO - Serbian Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran Care and Social Issues Aleksandar Vulin as the representative of the Serbian government attended the commemoration held in former prison camp Jadovno near Gospic in Croatia, on Sunday.

In 1941, around 40,000 prisoners were killed in Jadovno, most of them Serbs, as well as Jews and the Roma.

Vulin underscored that the crimes must not be forgotten, which is why they are still mentioned to this day.

Serbia respects Croatia as its neighbour even when the two countries' views of certain parts of history differ, Vulin said. Nevertheless, when it comes to Jadovno, Jasenovac and Gradiska camps, both Serbia and Croatia, as well as any other country in the world, share the same opinion because it is impossible to think otherwise at the spot where people were killed and humanity was executed, he noted.

Serbian Orthodox Bishop Jovan Culibrk of Lipljan held a memorial service prior to the commemoration at the monument in Saranova Jama pit, where the bodies of 73 Serb pastors and other victims were disposed in 1941.

President of the Serb National Council Milorad Pupovac paid tribute to the victims, as well as presidents of the Association of Antifascist Veterans and Antifascists of Croatia, the Coordination of Jewish Communities of Croatia and envoys of the president of Croatia and its government.

The complex of the Gospic-Jadovno-Pag prison camp, historically known as the Jadovno prison camp, opened on April 21, 1941 and was closed between August 15 and 20, 1941, at the request of the Italian army.

Jadovno is situated in the territory of the Velebit Mountain, well-known for its numerous karst caves.

On the basis of archive documents...