At the invitation of the Foundation “For the Serbian People and State, Professor Gideon Greif, PhD, visited Subotica and in the grand room of the City Hall he delivered a lecture about the topic “Jasenovac – its Moral and Historical Meaning”.
The lecture was attended by Mayor Stevo Bakić, Milovan Drecun, President of the parliament Group of Friendship with Israel, the students of the Young Leader Academy, students of the faculties in Subotica and the associates of the Foundation.
Moreover, in cooperation with the European Student Forum, SKONUS and the Unique List from the Faculty of Law, another lecture was organized for the students of the University of Belgrade. This lecture was held in the Rectorate of the University of Belgrade.
Professor Greif pointed out the great importance of what the Foundation is doing for the youth of Serbia, having in mind that these lectures are extremely important for the remembrance culture of the nation they belong to, and thanked for the invitation and the opportunity to participate.
He emphasized some of the many differences exiting between Auschwitz and Jasenovac camps.
“Bloodthirst was the main difference between the Ustasha and the German Nazis. A terrible characteristic of the Ustasha was that they wanted to be present during death, to feel it, while the Nazis opted for “cleaner” death – they were cruel, but they did it in a different, “cleaner” way. The very fact that Jasenovac had as many as 57 methods of killing Serbs, Jews and Roma shows to what extent the Ustasha were more ruthless and brutal, which was also confirmed by the Nazis.”
Professor Greif gave detailed answers to the questions from the audience, including the question as to whether he supported the promotion of this segment of history through art, film, music, but with great caution regarding the respect for the scientific evidence and facts.
He added that only 2% of the Nazis had a court trial, which he considers a shamefully and miserably small number in relation to the number of victims of their decisions and acts.
The representatives of the Foundation emphasized the importance of these lectures, adding that it was only one in a series of projects and lectures dedicated to these difficult, but extremely important topics for our people and society.
