Almost no one in the West knows about the 800 000-1.5 million who were heinously slaughtered in death camps and massacres in the Balkans during WWII. 

Almost no one in the West has heard of the Ustaše- the evil organization responsible for perpetrating this genocide. The Ustaše was a fringe radical group that had at most 2% of the Croatian people’s support. They only ascended to power because of the German Nazis ascendance to power.

The vastly peasant uneducated society was helpless against the largely organized educated Ustaše members who had both Vatican, in the form of Vatican cardinal Alyonius Stepinac, and Nazi support. 

Almost no one in the West has heard of Ante Pavelic; a lawyer turned fascist leader- known as the Hitler of the Balkans. 

Almost no one in the West has heard of Jasenovac- the largest death camp the world has ever seen. Jasenovac was in fact a complex of five major and three "special" camps spread out over 240 square kilometers (150 square miles) in south-central Croatia along the Sava River, near the confluence of the Una River. (p.215, Jasenovac: Aushwitz of the Balkan, Gideon Greif.) 

Almost no one in the West knows that the Ustaše operated death camps exclusively for children.

Almost no one in the West knows how Jasenovac differs from Aushwitz. 

Almost no one in the West knows that anti-Serb sentiment has been simmering in Croatian consciousness since at least the 17th century. 

Almost no one in the West knows that there was immense religious undertone to the genocide. In that Catholicism and Islam were the cherished religions of the Ustaše state. Adherents of Orthodox Christianity and Judaism were tortured and killed, converted to Catholicism or expelled.

Almost no one in the West knows that Ante Starcevic was in many ways the godfather of the genocide due to his polemic book on Serbs which was published in the 19th century.

Almost no one in the West has heard about Diana Budisavljevic who was responsible for the single largest humanitarian action of WWII. Diana, along with her helpers, rescued over 10 000 Serbian children from Ustaše death camps.

As people frolic to the idyllic city of Dubrovnik, no one is aware that the Balkans current borders are a product of Nazi ambitions; a product of Hitler, Mussolini and Pavelic.

As people sunbathe on Croatia’s coast, the Jasenovac site receives a miniscule fraction of visitors in comparison. It continues day after to day to go largely forgotten and unnoticed. The towering stone flower monument in rural Croatia dedicated to all the victims of the genocide is a site of abject obscurity to most Westerners.

Almost no one knows that Dr. Gideon Greif, a Yad Veshem scholar of 26 years, arguably understands this event better than anyone. That he has dedicated four years of his life to studying this topic; analyzing every single archive on the topic. It is only through Dr. Greif’s research that the actual death toll has been revealed to be significantly higher than previously thought.

Few know that both fascist (the Ustaše) and communist forces (former Yugoslavian leader Josip Bronz Tito) tried ardently to wipe this event from historical record in the form of denying or downplaying its existence and destroying evidence. 

No one knows who all the victims were.

Few have ever heard of or read the telling eyewitness account of Jasenovac survivor Egon Berger’s book “44 Months in Jasenovac.”

Few know that Croatia has done virtually nothing in the way of reconciliation and compensation to the victims and families.

Few know that many Croatians revere the Ustaše as proud patriots.

Few know that a Croatian political party used a revamped Nazi poster as its own poster in modern day times.

Few know that many Croatian public figures including professional athletes and singers celebrate events with the Ustaše battle cry and paraphernalia.

Few know that revisionist attempts at rewriting the genocide still happen in modern day Croatia. Croatia, as a whole, is still a very long way away from reconciling the genocide and making serious attempts at healing this very scarred and tortured area and its victims.

Hopefully, this petition will reach 8000.

Hopefully, this petition is helping more people to become informed about this event.

Hopefully, this petition will result in meaningful positive change for the victims and their families.  

Hopefully, this petition will ensure that the truth is not erased or rewritten.

Hopefully, this petition will prohibit the denial of the Holocaust in Croatia.

Keep signing and sharing. 

Thank you.