Bosnians deeply sympathise with the Jewish people as they were also victims of genocide in recent history, the Chairman of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency and its Croat member, Zeljko Komsic, said at the World Holocaust Forum 2020 event in Jerusalem on Thursday.
The Fifth World Holocaust Forum is taking place at Yad Vashem on 23 January. The theme this year is “Remembering the Holocaust: Fighting Antisemitism.”
Along with 40 other world leaders, Komsic participated in the event marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.
“The Holocaust was a unique crime against an ethnic group – the Jews. It is the most brutal crime of the last century which human civilisation remembers and which was carefully planned and implemented. It left unprecedented consequences on the Jewish people, but also on the entire world,” Komsic said.
“Unfortunately, what took place during the Nazi regime in WWII did not represent a lesson for some people. The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina deeply sympathise and share the fate of the Jews,” he said, adding that Bosnians have “in recent history been victims of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing which has claimed the lives of many.”
Komsic added that he personally feels “deep sadness and compassion for the victims of the Holocaust and the Jewish people” and that “the Holocaust must never be forgotten.”
