HRH Hereditary Prince Philip attended today the marking of the memory of the Holy New Martyrs of Jasenovac in the monastery of St. John the Baptist in Jasenovac. The Holy Liturgy and commemoration of the victims were led by His Grace Bishop Jovan of Pakrac and Slavonia, with the participation of His High Grace Archbishop and Metropolitan Atanasije of Mileševa and Their Graces Bishop Isihije of Valjevo and Bishop Justin of Western Europe.
Hereditary Prince Philip who was the first member of the Serbian Royal Family to visit Jasenovac, and this is the fourth year in a row that he attended the commemoration of the Holy New Martyrs of Jasenovac. This year as well, he paid his respects and bowed to all the victims of the so-called Independent State of Croatia, responsible for genocide and unprecedented crimes in this region, which destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Roma, with the intention of extermination.
“Jasenovac is a wound of my people that cannot heal, that hurts and warns. The life of every person is important, in a world where we fight for human rights with the desire to protect them from all abuses. Remembrance and commemoration are not only our obligation to our ancestors, but also to our descendants,” said Hereditary Prince Philip.
“The scale of the crimes of the Independent State of Croatia, which destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Roma, with the intention of extermination, is difficult to imagine and describe. I wonder how many names of victims in the factories of death we will never know, how many destinies will be forever erased from existence… That fact scares and saddens me, and it all should be a warning to us,” said the Hereditary Prince.
“Especially painful are the attempts to reduce the number of victims from those who, while talking about human rights, democracy, and the future and making a fierce departure from the regime of death, persistently reduce its destructiveness and relativize the scales of the crime,” emphasized Prince Philip.
He pointed out that it is comforting that our Church takes care of the memory of those who were the witnesses of Jasenovac concentration camp, and he especially pointed out the important and historical role of the Eparchy of Pakrac and Slavonia and Bishop Jovan because of everything they did and are doing so that the sacrifice of the Jasenovac martyrs is never forgotten and so that even larger number of Serbs would come to Jasenovac, to pay their respect.
As part of commemorating the remembrance of the Holy New Martyrs of Jasenovac, the Museum of the Genocide Victims opened a permanent exhibition in the building of the “Ustasha Hospital”, one of the two remaining authentic buildings of the former Concentration system and death camp of the Independent State of Croatia in Jasenovac. (Ustasha’s were German collaborators in World War Two).
The prayer commemoration was also attended by the President of the Republic of Srpska, HE Milorad Dodik, envoy of the Prime Minister of Serbia, Mr. Sava Stambolić, Minister of Information and Telecommunications of Serbia HE Dejan Ristić, Minister without portfolio in the Government of Serbia HE Đorđe Milićević, State Secretaries in the Ministries of Serbia, Ambassador of Serbia to Croatia HE Jelena Milić, acting director of the Museum of the Genocide Victims, Mr. Bojan Arbutina and many others.
