68TH ANNIVERSARY OF JASENOVAC CAMP BREAKOUT

On 12 May 2013 a commemoration event was held at the Jasenovac memorial, at one of the sites where the Ustasha camp was run from 1941 to 1945. 

As a result of the Jasenovac camp breakout, which occurred on 22 April 1945, only 107 out of more than 900 participants survived.  Survivors of the breakout took part in this year's ceremony, including Boris Braun, Stevo Đurđević and Ilija Ivanović, and spoke to the participants of commemoration event.  Following their speeches, several high officials including Mirando Mrsić, Minister of Labour and Pension System and representing Prime Minister Zoran Milanović, Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko, and President of the Republic Ivo Josipović, addressed the attendees as well.                      

Participants of the breakout invoked memories related to their imprisonment in the Jasenovac camp, accentuating the need for tolerance education for young people, and President of the Republic Ivo Josipović emphasized the importance of individualization of victims.  He reminded participants that the names of 83,301 individuals who perished in the Stara Gradiška-Jasenovac complex are now known.

President Josipović presented the Order of Stjepan Radić to the participants of the breakout and the Plaquette of the Republic of Croatia to the Jasenovac Memorial Site on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of its work. He also delivered Recognition of the Jasenovac Memorial Site to the living participants of the breakout, named after the organizer of the breakout Ante Bakotić.

At the end of the ceremony representatives of the religious communities said prayers and wreaths were laid at the bottom of the Flower Monument.