Tribute to victims of Staro Sajmiste death camp

BELGRADE - Serbia on Wednesday marks the national Day of Remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust, genocide and other fascist crimes in World War II, by laying wreaths and paying tribute to the victims of WWII death camp Staro Sajmiste in Belgrade.

The commemorative ceremony was organized by the government of Serbia, and Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic laid a wreath at the memorial to Staro Sajmiste victims.

Staro Sajmiste, one of the first and most infamous concentration camps in Europe, was a place where Serbs, Jews and Roma were brutally murdered just because of their religion and because they were anti-fascists, the minister said.

Every third prisoner taken to Staro Sajmiste perished in this camp, and the others were sent to Banjica, Trepca, Jasenovac, and concentration camps in Germany, Poland, Austria, added Gasic.

The national remembrance day for the victims of the Holocaust, genocide and other fascist crimes in WWII is marked on April 22, the day when the remaining prisoners broke out of the Ustasa-ran death camp Jasenovac in 1945.

Photo Tanjug, Z. Zestic