As part of the commemoration of the Holocaust Remembrance Day – January 27, an event was held today in Sarajevo titled “The Path of the Exiled to Freedom”, accompanied with an exhibition “The Jewish Rab Battalion – Jewish National Heroes” by Eli Tauber.
The events, organized by the University of Sarajevo – Institute for the Research of Crimes against Humanity and International Law, were an opportunity to evoke the memory of the suffering of around six million Jews in the Second World War and honor the victims of the Holocaust.
As it was pointed out on that occasion, the events that followed, as well as the current geopolitical constellation, unfortunately, testify to the fact that the world has learned almost nothing from the tragic experience of the Holocaust, although after the end of the Second World War it was said: “Never again”.
The memory of the Holocaust, which is given due attention, is also an incentive to reflect on the causes and consequences of all the tragic events that people caused themselves, killing others and differently because of the color of their skin, religion, political beliefs, or any other affiliation, which is, among others, elaborated as part of the mentioned scientific meeting.
The president of the Jewish community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jakob Finci, points out that the Holocaust as a phenomenon was neglected for a long time, and that it is good to talk about it now.
“If we had spoken in time, who knows, maybe even Srebrenica would not have happened to us. And what happened happened, simply because we did not recognize what an ugly word means, what hate speech means and what the beginnings of the extermination of a people from one religion, from one race, mean…,” said Finci, expressing hope that the Holocaust will never happen again, will not repeat anywhere.
Reflecting on the current moment, Finci states that it is evident that the world has not learned anything from previous tragic events.
Eli Tauber, the author of the exhibition “The Jewish Rab Battalion – Jewish National Heroes”, told reporters that the exhibition, which contains photographs and a text section, testifies to the participation of Jews in the National Liberation Movement (NOP).
It was a unit, a Jewish battalion that was formed after the liberation of the camp on the island of Rab, i.e. after the capitulation of the Italian fascist regime in September 1943.
In this context, Tauber recalls that it was very significant and that it was an organized joining in the NOP and the partisan units, Fena reports.
