CROATIAN JEWS COMMEMORATE HOLOCAUST VICTIMS

ZAGREB, April 16 (Hina) - A wreathlaying ceremony in commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust was held at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery on Tuesday. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Jewish community in Zagreb, Croatian authorities, religious communities, diplomatic corps and prominent public figures. Presidential Chief of Staff Ivo Sanader laid a wreath on behalf of President Franjo Tudjman. The president of the Jewish community in Zagreb and Croatia, Ognjen Kraus, said that every year on Yom Hashoa Day, the Jews of Zagreb paid respects to "the innocent victims of racist laws of Nazi Germany, the Independent State of Croatia and some other quisling states in Europe." Before World War Two, the Jewish community in Croatia had numbered 24,000 people living in 39 Jewish municipalities. About 12,000 Jews lived in Zagreb, which accounted for about seven per cent of the total population of the city. There were 41 sinagogues in Croatia. About 20,000 Jews disappeared in Nazi and Ustasha concentration camps in Croatia, Kraus said. Today, the Jewish community had fewer than 3,000 members living in nine Jewish municipalities with three sinagogues. Several other sinagogues that had been spared destruction during the war were no longer used for religious purposes, he added. Although not numerous, the Jewish community had established foundations for development and preservation of Jewish identity in Croatia, Kraus said. Kraus said that the Croatian Jews wanted restitution of the property acquired by their ancestors. He expressed displeasure with an idea that the Jasenovac camp site should be transormed into a memmorial to all victims of war. "We cannot conceive of the bones of Jewish victims being buried together with the remains of those responsible for their suffering, which may happen if this idea is realized," Kraus said. "We believe that the idea would be discussed in a democratic way as a sign of respect for the Holocaust victims," he said. (hina) vm jn 162159 MET apr 96