22.04.2016
Memorial service for the killed in Jasenovac and other camps and killing fields in the Second World War
On the occasion of marking the anniversary of the breakthrough of the prisoners from the notorious Jasenovac concentration camp, in the chapel of the Holy King Milutin, in the Central Military Club, today, a memorial service to all the victims of this and other camps and killing fields during the Second World War has been performed.In mid-April 1945, the Ustashas began to prepare themselves to leave the camp, which included the liquidation of the remaining prisoners. In the night between 21st and 22nd April, about 600 out of 1,073 still live prisoners from the Jasenovac camp, or more precisely from Donja Gradina Camp and Kozare Camp, attacked the Ustasha guard and went into breakthrough which 91 of them survived. The remaining 473 prisoners, who, due to infirmity and disease did not participate in the attack, were killed and burned along with the camp facilities.
The Serbian Armed Forces Chief Military Chaplain Sladjan Vlajic reminded participants in the memorial service that, apart from 22nd April, the Serbian Orthodox Church set up two more days in the year when we are praying to remember our brothers and sisters, fathers and forefathers who gave their lives into the foundations of freedom in which our generation lives today.
- These dates are 24th March, when we remember the heroes killed in NATO bombing and 28th June, when we worship the spirits of dead soldiers and military leaders who died for the freedom of Serbia from the battle in Kosovo to this day. Many of those who perished were the children in the flower of youth, who did not manage to have their progeny, their descendants who would remember them, praying the Lord for forgiveness of their sins and rest of their souls. Our moral obligation is to accept these days of memorial service as the eternal legacy by which we are not letting the sacrifice of our ancestors sink into oblivion.
PHOTOGALLERY
