80 years since the creation of the Jasenovac camp system, the most monstrous death factory in Europe
President Vucic: The memory of the Serbian name and surname will not be erased. Bishop Jovan: Our attitude towards Jasenovac is determined by the words of Patriarch German: We must forgive, but we must not forget. Patriarch Porfirije: We heal our wounds through prayerful memory. We pray for all people and that Jasenovac never happens again to anyone, anywhere.
On the occasion of 80th anniversary since the founding of the system of concentration camps in Jasenovac, His Holiness Porfirije, Serbian Patriarch received the President of the Republic of Serbia Mr. Aleksandar Vucic, His Grace Bishop Jovan of Slavonia and Director of the Museum of the victims of the genocide Dejan Ristic, PhD.
- It is 80 years since the creation of the most monstrous death factory in Europe, the Jasenovac camp system. Serbia and Republika Srpska are working together to strengthen the culture of memory. We are doing everything not to forget the victims of Jasenovac and we are looking for ways in which the state can help the Serbian Orthodox Church in the entire process, as well as on other important issues, President Vucic said.
- Today we finally reached an agreement and I am conveying the confirmation to Mr. Milorad Dodik to participate together in the construction of the center which should be an all-Serbian sanctuary in the saddest place in Donja Gradina, in Republika Srpska, to build a large memorial center and to remind of all other crimes committed against our people, and in territories that are not under the control of the Serbian people, the President of Serbia said.
- The memory of the Serbian name and surname will not be erased. Big money will be invested in the construction of that memorial center: 80 percent of Serbia and 20 percent of Republika Srpska, President Vucic said.
President Vucic also pointed out that the Museum of Genocide Victims, an important institution founded in 1992, does not have its own premises, so it was agreed to try to establish them in Staro Sajmiste (Old Fairground) if property problems are solved. - Together, we will submit an initiative for the left bank of the Sava to be named the Bank of Jasenovac Victims, which would include all victims: Serbs, Jews, Roma and everyone else. We believe that this will be approved by the city authorities. The goal is to show the world public what the Serbian people went through 80 years ago, to spread the truth. I am satisfied that the state can participate in what is of great importance for our people, and I am proud that Serbia and the Serbian people remember, that they will never forget the horrible crimes in Jasenovac. Serbia can do that today, Serbia is not ashamed of its victims. These are our heroes and we will do our best so that their heroic deed is not forgotten, said President Vucic.
-The most significant and biggest event since the liberation of the camp, i.e. the breakthrough of the camp inmates, because no one ever liberated Jasenovac, on April 22, 1945, is the consecration of the renovated much smaller and much poorer church in Jasenovac in September 1984. Then, Serbian Patriarch German, with two future patriarchs and five archbishops, consecrated that temple and uttered the words that determine our relationship with Jasenovac and everything that happened in it: We must forgive, but we must not forget. Bishop Sava, my predecessor, declared that shrine a monastery in 2000. And now we are on a new threshold with great love and help from the Republic of Serbia and its Government. For the first time in the history of Jasenovac, because unfortunately what the monastery remembered was over thirty years of preventing the construction of the temple, which was the first victim of Jasenovac. The first detainees had the first task to demolish the huge, beautiful temple that used to be in Jasenovac. So, after thirty years, a permit was obtained for the renovation of the temple, and after forty years, that temple was built, so he was also a martyr in his renovation. And now that temple-monastery continues its mission to pray to God in it, to burn the graves of martyrs, to receive all those who come, and most importantly, to worship the shadows of the martyrs, to celebrate them and from there to spread the word of Patriarch German: We must forgive, but we must not forget, Bishop Jovan of Slavonia said, who thanked President Vucic and His Holiness the Patriarch.
- The first thing he did both as the Metropolitan of Zagreb and as the Serbian Patriarch, His Holiness came to his people in Banija and came to Jasenovac, showing that he is a worthy successor of Patriarch German and the bearer of his message of forgetfulness and forgiveness, concluded Bishop Jovan.
- I would like to underline the word shrine, which was uttered by Mr. President, because I think it is the right word to describe the places of suffering. Many times I was not only in Jasenovac but also in other places of the suffering of our people, in Jadovno, etc. But whenever I entered Jasenovac, I had the impression that I had entered a completely different zone of existence in relation to everything around us. I always had the experience that I had entered one mystical zone. This mystical zone of Jasenovac and other places of human suffering shows that it is a metaphysical space and that is why it is a sanctuary. Therefore, nothing better could have happened for Jasenovac, for those who died there, but also for those who committed crimes, as well as for all those who go there with good will, even for those who do not have good will in relation to that. instead, nothing better could have happened than for a monastery to spring up there, a convent from which, for twenty-four hours, a prayer for those who have suffered is constantly raised, but also a prayer to them, because they are innocent victims. They are martyrs who represent all of us before God, they pray for peace, for good among people, and they probably also pray for their evildoers, Patriarch Porfirije pointed out.
- The memory of the past is the memory of the future, of what we were created for. He who has no memory of why God created us - and I will say the word theologically: he created us to participate in all that is His, to be like Him - who does not have that kind of remembrance and prayerful address to God in that key, he cannot respect yourself, he cannot recognize the other and hence we meet rivers of hatred on every side of the world. Remembrance, memory, recollection- that is prayer. This is what the Jasenovac monastery does with its nuns, but at the same time that this memory never turns into resentment, but that through prayerful memory we heal our wounds and at the same time through prayer addressing God always and always, praying for all people, we pray that it will never happen again to anyone, Patriarch Porfirije said.
- It is very important, and God knows why, that we have a monastery in Jasenovac, that, God willing, we have a memorial center - a sanctuary on the other side of the river, across from the monastery, and of course we have the Museum of Genocide Victims, because it does every mature nation in relation to itself, showing respect and self-knowledge, respect for itself and for its own. Without this assumption, it is absolutely impossible not only to recognize and respect the other, but also to take the first step in relation to him. Rejoicing that we met today, I am even more glad that we agree on everything that needs to be done in the future, with, once again, gratitude for everything that the people who are present here with me do: President of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Aleksandar Vucic; my brother Bishop Jovan of Slavonia and Pakrac and the director of the Museum of Genocide Victims, Mr. Dejan Ristic. Thank you once again for everything and may God give us the strength to do everything in this key even more and more efficiently, because it is one of the strong and great movements, broad and effective ways to build good, to build peace, in the words of Patriarch German: we remember, but we do not forget. We always want and want to forgive everyone, just as we ask others to forgive everything in which we were not human in relation to them, the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije said.
