Jasenovac:
Death camp survivors, political and religious leaders joined a ceremony on Sunday to remember the tens of thousands killed at a notorious World War II camp known as the Croatian Auschwitz.
"Jasenovac will remain in our collective memory forever, even though it was founded as a place of oblivion," President Ivo Josipovic said at the site of the former camp.
"A crime, a genocide, was committed here, that will never cease to hurt, that we will never forget."
Several hundred survivors, relatives of victims, religious officials and foreign diplomats gathered with the country's leaders in Jasenovac despite pouring rain to pay homage to the victims of Croatia's pro-Nazi wartime regime.
"Modern Croatia, a European Union member, is a guarantee that such evil will never happen again," said Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.
The ceremony marked the 69th anniversary of an 1945 escape attempt by some 600 inmates, among the last held at the infamous camp, of whom only around 100 survived the break-out.
The escape is marked every year on the Sunday closest to April 22 when it took place.
A multi-denominational religious service was held for the victims and wreaths were laid at the giant flower-shaped monument.
The Jasenovac camp, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Zagreb, was dismantled a few days after the attempted escape.
The number of people killed at the camp - mostly Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croatians - remains disputed. It varies from 80,000 to 700,000, according to Serbian figures.
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that 100,000 people were murdered at Croatia's Auschwitz.
"Jasenovac will remain in our collective memory forever, even though it was founded as a place of oblivion," President Ivo Josipovic said at the site of the former camp.
"A crime, a genocide, was committed here, that will never cease to hurt, that we will never forget."
Several hundred survivors, relatives of victims, religious officials and foreign diplomats gathered with the country's leaders in Jasenovac despite pouring rain to pay homage to the victims of Croatia's pro-Nazi wartime regime.
"Modern Croatia, a European Union member, is a guarantee that such evil will never happen again," said Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.
The ceremony marked the 69th anniversary of an 1945 escape attempt by some 600 inmates, among the last held at the infamous camp, of whom only around 100 survived the break-out.
The escape is marked every year on the Sunday closest to April 22 when it took place.
A multi-denominational religious service was held for the victims and wreaths were laid at the giant flower-shaped monument.
The Jasenovac camp, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Zagreb, was dismantled a few days after the attempted escape.
The number of people killed at the camp - mostly Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croatians - remains disputed. It varies from 80,000 to 700,000, according to Serbian figures.
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that 100,000 people were murdered at Croatia's Auschwitz.
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