Jadovno camp commemorations mark 85th anniversary of WWII Serbian mass killings

Serbian President Siniša Karan said the Jadovno–Gospić–Pag camp complex was a “machine of crime” whose sole purpose was to eradicate Serbs from the land, calling the massacres one of the darkest chapters of 20th‑century European history. He urged the Serbian people to keep the memory of the victims alive and to defend the truth about the atrocities.

On 20 June 2026, a ceremony at Šaranova jama on Velebit marked 85 years since the start of the killings in the Jadovno complex, where about 38,000 Serbs were murdered. Representatives of the “Jadovno 1941” association, historians and descendants of victims attended. Dušan Bastašić stressed that “we must hold only the truth and speak only the truth,” and called for the events to be incorporated into school curricula, exhibitions and public tribunes.

Both events highlight ongoing efforts in Serbia and Bosnia‑Herzegovina to preserve the historical record of the NDH‑era massacres and to honor the victims.