When it comes to remembering the Holocaust, Serbia is a leader in this area, said Ellen Germain, Special Envoy for the Holocaust in the Bureau for European and Eurasian State Department issues. In an interview with "Danas", she pointed out that Serbia is doing a great job in marking the place and educating on this very important issue.
On an official visit to Belgrade, Germain talked with members of the Serbian government, representatives of the civil sector, and Jewish communities.
The goal of her visit was to discuss the issues of the Holocaust, and true memories related to the Holocaust, which the United States and Serbia take very seriously.
“Also, let's talk about education, but also the restitution of the property of Holocaust victims that was illegally taken away from them” - Jermaine explained, adding that she is very satisfied with the visit to our country.
She reminded that in 2016, Serbia adopted the Law on Elimination of Consequences of Confiscation of Property of Holocaust Victims With No Living Legal Heirs, and emphasized that this law was the first to be enacted after many countries agreed that the issue needs to be resolved.
"From the perspective of someone who deals with Holocaust issues, Serbia is doing a great job," said Germain.
Regarding the education about Holocaust, Jermain said that one of the best ways for people to understand the Holocaust is to talk to survivors.
“I was recently in Israel where I had the opportunity to see how this country does very interesting things in education, such as online video players that contribute to children understanding what the Holocaust was, as well as recognizing misinformation and stereotypes. It is not necessary to teach young people only about the Holocaust, but also about tolerance and acceptance of people who are different from us” said Jermain.
During her visit to Belgrade, Jermaine also visited the "Staro Sajmište", and said that the Memoria Center project is a large project and will be "very powerful" when completed.
- The construction plan is really impressive - museums, exhibitions, and an educational center… "Staro Sajmište" will be very important as a source of stories of people who died there. It is unbelievable that the "Staro Sajmište" was a place of gathering and entertainment in the 1930s, and that it later became a place of death - Jermaine points out.
In her opinion, the construction of the “Staro Sajmište Memorial Center” shows Serbia's readiness to talk about the Holocaust, whose experience during the Second World War is not known to many people in the world, and even in Serbia itself.
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