On the occasion of commemorating January 27 - Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the University of Sarajevo organizes and participates in a series of activities every year to honor the victims of the Holocaust, as well as to further study the crimes committed on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. during the holocaust. This year, the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the University of Sarajevo, in cooperation with the Jewish Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the UNESCO office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Association "Haggadah" Sarajevo, organized the commemoration of January 27 - the Day memories of the victims of the Holocaust.
According to the event commemoration program, held on January 20, 2022 at the Rectorate of the University of Sarajevo, the opening of the exhibition: "The Final Solution of the Jewish Question", by Eli Tauber, and the round table of the Wannsee Conference in Berlin (January 20, 1942) - "The Final Solution of the Jewish question".
In this way, the University of Sarajevo has joined the universities around the world that celebrate Holocaust Remembrance Day in an appropriate way.
Prof. Ph.D. Rasim Muratović, director of the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the University of Sarajevo, stated that the final Jewish issue was the end of hope for all European Jews, where the first plan was to move to Madagascar and continue living peacefully there, but since there was nothing of that.
Another plan, Professor Muratović reminds, was for European Jews to move to Eastern Europe and do what they know in labor camps there. "Those labor camps were turned into concentration camps where about six million Jews were killed. This ended their lives, they were burned in the flames of Nazism, and over three million Jews do not have their burial place, they ended up in the dust and ashes of concentration camps and gas chambers", Professor Muratović reminded, and added that the organized conference represents an opportunity to renew lessons, send lessons and initiate that the Holocaust, genocide in general, is studied in school programs from primary, secondary schools, colleges, master's studies and doctoral studies, so that it does not happen to us again.
Mr. Siniša Šešum, head of the UNESCO Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, pointed out that education about the Holocaust is extremely important for UNESCO. "This conference is a direct contribution to that and UNESCO really stands behind such things, where events from our not-so-distant past that had painful consequences for Jews are openly discussed," said Mr. Šešum. He added that UNESCO is here today not only to help the gathering, but also to present an important project that has been developing for the past ten years - a joint exhibition of the former Yugoslav republics at the Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum. "It is an extremely important thing and what was incredible for some politicians or some representatives of the government is that six countries have been working together for ten years on that exhibition, which will hopefully be opened in the next two to three years," he said. Mr. Sešum.
Rector of the University of Sarajevo, prof. Ph.D. Rifat Škrijelj that today's event is an academic contribution to the University of Sarajevo that reminding humanity of those dark times. "With today's meeting, the University of Sarajevo wants to point out that fascism, which took place in its blackest form against the members of the Jewish people, still floats around the world today and finds a place over other groups and peoples", stressed Rector Škrijelj, and said that the University and him as Rector , always ready to sympathize and be with the victims of the past so that they do not happen again in the future.
"The moment we are living in shows that the holocaust and genocide and all such forms of evil that were present on planet Earth can happen again, but I hope it won't. And I would be more certain that they would not if all those who committed them were brought to the court of justice and those who deny them were also sanctioned in a serious way", said Rector Škrijelj.
Mayor of Sarajevo, Assoc. Ph.D. Benjamina Londrc-Karić stated that the story of the Jews in BiH and the story of the Jews in Sarajevo is a story about the history of this country and the capital.
"We went through beautiful and less beautiful moments together, and it is our duty to remember all of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. We keep the Jews who died during the Holocaust, but not only as a memory, but also as an important warning that the evil of fascism must never be repeated", emphasized Mayor Londrc-Karić. He believes that the city of Sarajevo is a multicultural city that cherishes all those values of diversity and that all peoples who live here are friends and neighbors. "I believe that the city of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina always somehow give hope and all the citizens of Sarajevo give hope that we are going to a better future and a better tomorrow. We take care of our history, we remember and pay respect to all the victims who died both in the Second World War and during the aggression against BiH, and all for the sake of a common message, for the sake of young people and the message that no evil is welcome here in our country and city," she said. Mayor of Londrc-Karić.
dr. sci. Eli Tauber, director of the Archives of the Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, emphasized that it is not the most important thing to just mention that it would not have happened. "The most important thing is that in some way, and with various media means, we influence young people so that they become aware of the horrors of the Holocaust, the horrors of genocide, and that they will actually be the ones who will prevent any future genocide," said Tauber. Referring to today's exhibition, he pointed out that it will be open for the next seven days, and a similar, expanded exhibition will be opened on January 26 at the Jewish Museum. "Both the exhibition and the second one have the same goal, the idea - to show that the Holocaust happened, that it is not only a product of the belief that the Holocaust was in some concentration camps, Auschwitz, Jasenovac and the like, but that there was a path that developed from the moon per month, by passing new laws, taking away certain human rights and dignities, and that we ended up in a situation where it was completely normal that Jews could be taken to concentration camps. Of course it wasn't normal and of course people didn't admit it or accept it," said Dr. Tauber.
dr. sci. Nataša Mataušić from the Croatian History Museum, the long-time president of the Administrative Council of the Jasenovac Memorial Area, emphasized that it is extremely important to remember the victims and the crimes committed and to memorize it, not only on the Day of Remembrance of those victims, but also constantly through the education system through schools and through the faculties. "Although there is a cliché that we must remember so that it does not happen again, unfortunately, despite our memory, crimes are still repeated. The last wars in the territory of the former Yugoslavia showed that. "Remembering the victims is, in a way, repaying the debt to them and facing all their suffering that they survived during the Second World War", pointed out Dr. Mataušić.
dr. sci. Olga Manojlović Pintar, senior research associate at the Institute for Recent History of Serbia, emphasized that the Holocaust is a central issue of memory politics in all European countries. She pointed out that the murder of 6 million European Jews was an event that actually marked modern Europe, and that the way Europe remembers the murder that was committed during the Second World War actually crucially defined the modern value systems in all European countries. She added that through the ways in which we remember the Second World War, we shape to a large extent our image of the wars of the 90s and show how ready we are to face the crimes and to remember the victims forever.
Prof. opened the meeting with opening remarks. Ph.D. Rifat Škrijelj, rector of the University of Sarajevo, prof. Ph.D. Rasim Muratović, Director of the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the University of Sarajevo, and Mr. Siniša Šešum, Head of the UNESCO Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Director of the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law at the University of Sarajevo, prof. Ph.D. Rasim Muratović gave the opening presentation "Nazi disregard of human values". Mayor of Sarajevo, Assoc. Ph.D. Benjamina Londrc-Karić gave a presentation on the topic: "Legal position of the Jewish community in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1918 to 1945".
dr. sci. Eli Tauber, director of the Archives of the Jewish Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, author of the book Holocaust in Bosnia and Herzegovina; When the neighbors were people, he had a presentation on the topic: "Final solution of the Jewish question on the territory of BiH". dr. sci. Nataša Mataušić, from the Croatian History Museum, president of the Administrative Council of the Jasenovac Memorial Area, author of the book Jasenovac 1941-1945. Death camp and labor camp, she gave a presentation on the topic: "Final solution of the Jewish question on the territory of Croatia". dr. sci. Olga Manojlović Pintar, senior research associate at the Institute for Recent History of Serbia, author of the monograph: Archeology of memory, monuments and identities in Serbia 1918 - 1989, presented on the topic: "The final solution of the Jewish question on the territory of Serbia".
dr. sci. Sabina Galijatović, senior research associate at the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the University of Sarajevo, gave a presentation on the topic: The Wannsee Conference as a comprehensive organizational plan for "solving the Jewish question", and M.Sc. sci. Lamija Muftić, expert associate of the Institute for the Research of Crimes against Humanity and International Law of the University of Sarajevo, spoke on the topic: Wannsee Conference - memorialization and remembrance.
Genocide is the most serious form of crime against humanity and international law. Hokolaust is a paradigm of genocide. The Holocaust against European Jews is the most organized, massive and systematic crime of genocide in the long history of genocide. The Holocaust against the Jews was carried out in the period from 1933 to 1945. It was a period of severe economic, social, political and moral crisis. Society was looking for a new vision and a new visionary. Adolf Hitler appeared, fascism and Nazism with the "final solution of the Jewish question" in the "solution" of which about six million Jews and millions of other peoples were killed. Fascism revitalized those oldest deposits in the being of the nation. Her dark passions, instinctual driving forces, her closed-mindedness, xenophobia and aggressiveness. Death was the leitmotif of the Nazi regime.
In November 2005, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a Resolution marking January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On that date in 1945, Soviet troops liberated the infamous Auschwitz camp. For a full sixty years, they worked on discovering the historical, cultural, psychological, and civilizational causes that made the pogrom of the Jews possible, but also on finding a suitable remedy so that it would never happen to anyone again.