Anniversary of deportation of Novi Sad Jews

NOVI SAD - The commemoration in the Novi Sad Synagogue on Friday marked 70 years since the deportation of the city's Jews in World War II to concentration camps, from which most of them never returned.

The ceremony marking the event of April 26th 1944, when the first group of Novi Sad Jews were taken from the Synagogue, out of a total of 1,900 who were deported over the next seven days, was attended by the mayor of Novi Sad Milos Vucevic, the ambassadors of Israel, Germany and Hungary to Serbia Yossef Levy, Heinz Wilhelm and Oscar Nikovic, respectively.

The commemoration was also attended by Head Rabbi of Serbia Isak Asiel, Bishop Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church, city officials and numerous members of the public.

Mayor Vucevic stressed that this is one of the most tragic days in the history of Novi Sad and the entire country, recalling that as many as “1,600 of our fellow citizens, out of the 1,900 who were deported, never again returned to their homes”.

On this occasion, the city is paying tribute to the Jews of Novi Sad, and at the same time warning that such an evil must never be allowed to happen again, he said.

“Such events must never be forgotten. They must be talked about honestly and openly, so they would never be repeated,” stressed Vucevic.

Israeli Ambassador to Serbia Yossef Levy told reporters after the commemoration that it is very difficult for him to come here and see a beautiful synagogue, knowing that in April 1944 people were brutally taken away from that very place to Auschwitz and other death camps to be murdered.

German Ambassador Heinz Wilhelm said that he feels ashamed for what was done to the Jews, the Roma and other ethnicities in World War II in...