Gideon Greif, a researcher of the Shem Olam Holocaust Institute in Israel, will chair an international scientific conference on Jasenovac which will be held in Israel November 19-22 and finished with the adoption of a Jerusalem declaration on Jasenovac, reports Večernje Novosti.
The newspaper reports that between November 19 and 22, the Serbian-Hebrew Centre at Ono College in Jerusalem will host three significant events – the conference on Jasenovac, opening of the Serbian-Hebrew centre for studying the Serbian language, culture and history, and installation of a memorial plaque in honour of Saint Sava for the 790th anniversary of his first pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Ljiljana Nikšić, a coordinator for Serbian-Jewish academic cooperation, confirmed for the newspaper that professor Greif will chair the international scientific conference on Jasenovac, which will be held in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Serbia and the Vojvodina Archives.
She noted that participants of the conference will come from the United States, Serbia, Republika Srpska, Croatia, Italy, Norway, Great Britain, Germany, and Poland, and that one of the panellists will be Professor Darko Tanasković.
Greif told Večernje Novosti that Saint Sava went on his first pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1229 and that he obliged not only the Serbs, but the Jews too, because by buying the house of Jovan Bogoslov, he allowed it to remain in Christian hands.
He believes that the last supper was held in that house. Below it stands David’s grave, the second place of pilgrimage significant for Jews.
Greif says that this year, when the 80th anniversary of the beginning of World War II is marked, two events happened in Jerusalem as a product of a synchronised action of the Croatian Roman Catholic Church and the Croatian state leadership, whose goal is the revision of the role of Ustashas in World War II, which disgracefully make the martyrdom of Jesus Christ and Stepinac equal.
According to him, during a state visit by Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović to Israel, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was presented with the book “Aloysius Stepinac – Pillar of Human Rights” by E. Gitman at Yad Vashem.
“In addition, a memorial plaque to the Croatian archbishop Stepinac was installed in Jerusalem, at Via Dolorosa, in the scope of the Roman Catholic lodge owned by the Vienna Archdiocese, from the Croatian Roman Catholic Church and Croatian magistrate delegation of the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulchre headed by Cardinal Bozanić,” stated Greif.
In the capacity of the chief researcher at the Institute of Education, Documentation and Research of the Holocaust in Israel, chief historian of the Foundation for Educational Projects on Holocaust in Miami and head of the International Expert Group Stop Revision, Professor Greif sent letters of protest to Pope Francis, President of Israel Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Vienna Archdiocese and Austrian government demanding a removal of the memorial plaque honouring Stepinac, because it insults the feelings of all victims of Nazism, fascism, and Ustashism.
“Archbishop Stepinac has been ‘implanted’ as a saint by the Croatian Catholic clergy. It is well known that the status of the Croatian request for the canonization of Stepinac is uncertain, because now that the mixed commission of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Croatian Catholic Church, the Stepinac case is now handled by a special commission of the Holy See and Pope Francis himself, who showed reserve regarding Stepinac’s canonization several times,” says Greif.
Greif points out there is no dilemma that Stepinac knew about Ustasha crimes, giving the Independent State of Croatia /NDH/ moral and spiritual support.
He notes that he incorporated in his book “Ustasha Final Solution before Nazi Solution” the authentic German file about Ustasha atrocities /1941 and 1942/ which was published this year eight decades later earlier, thanks to a cooperation between the Vojvodina Archives and Večernje Novosti.
“The German file is a revolution in world historiography. A massacre of 190 Serbian men in Gudovac on April 28, 1941, which was committed only 18 days after the foundation of the NDH, proves that the Ustasha final solution started six months before the Nazi final solution. Croats are quicker than Germans,” underlines Greif.
Večernje Novosti recalls Greif’s message that he will show the NDH atrocities to the world and that, to the regret of revisionists in Croatia, the entire truth about the NDH will be revealed.
Source: srna
