ZAGREB, Croatia – Croatia's Jewish community has boycotted the official Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony saying the conservative government is not doing enough to curb pro-Nazi sentiments in the country.
Ognjen Kraus, the coordinator of the Jewish communities in Croatia, says the decision was made after authorities failed to remove a plaque bearing a World War II Croatian pro-Nazi salute from the town of Jasenovac — the site of a wartime death camp where tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs and Roma perished.
The "For the homeland — Ready!" salute was used by WWII Croatian fascist troops. It was inscribed on the plaque in Jasenovac honoring Croatian fighters killed in the 1990s.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has described the issue as "delicate." A state delegation Friday laid a wreath at the Jewish cemetery in Zagreb.