ZAGREB ZAGREB, Jan 29 (Hina) - A presentation of the Righteous Among the Nations decorations, the highest Israeli decoration conferred on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, was held at Zagreb's
Geodetic-Technical School Tuesday. Israeli Ambassador to Croatia David Granit presented the decorations to ten persons. The patron of the ceremony, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, said several presentations of the Righteous Among the Nations decoration had been held in Croatia, but that today's ceremony was the first one to be held in school - among the youth. Today's event marks also the beginning of a project involving the inclusion of the Holocaust in Croatian curricula. The secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress, Avi Beker, said 80 percent of the Jewish community was killed in Croatia during the Holocaust. The Ustasha units were among the boldest among Hitler's executioners who needed
ZAGREB, Jan 29 (Hina) - A presentation of the Righteous Among the
Nations decorations, the highest Israeli decoration conferred on
non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust,
was held at Zagreb's Geodetic-Technical School Tuesday.
Israeli Ambassador to Croatia David Granit presented the
decorations to ten persons. The patron of the ceremony, Croatian
President Stjepan Mesic, said several presentations of the
Righteous Among the Nations decoration had been held in Croatia,
but that today's ceremony was the first one to be held in school -
among the youth.
Today's event marks also the beginning of a project involving the
inclusion of the Holocaust in Croatian curricula.
The secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress, Avi Beker, said
80 percent of the Jewish community was killed in Croatia during the
Holocaust. The Ustasha units were among the boldest among Hitler's
executioners who needed no encouragement to commit crimes by their
German friends and patrons, he asserted.
Even then, when the Croatian state "sponsored" hatred toward the
Jews, there were men and women who had not lost their humaneness and
who could not bear what was going on around them, Beker said. He
added the Croatian partisans who died while defending their country
from Nazism must not be forgotten either.
Among other things, Granit said it was important that Croatia faced
its past, particularly the crimes Ustasha troops committed during
WWII. Like Beker, Granit stressed the importance of Mesic's visit
to Israel last year.
Jaksa Kalogjera and Josip Pribilovic expressed gratitude for the
decorations on behalf of those decorated. Kalogjera said it was
necessary to hear what and to what extend Croats contributed with
their struggle to the victory of the anti-fascist coalition.
Slavko Goldstein thanked the new Righteous Among the Nations on
behalf of almost 9,000 Croatian Jews who survived WWII. He said
they, as individuals who risked their own lives saving the lives of
the Jews, deserved the highest credit.
(hina) np sb