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US Holocaust Museum to Return Jasenovac WWII Artifacts to Croatia
HINA (Zagreb)
January 3, 2001

US HOLOCAUST MUSEUM TO RETURN JASENOVAC WWII ARTIFACTS TO CROATIA

Zagreb, Jan 3 (Hina) -- Croatia's Culture Ministry on Wednesday confirmed that the Washington-based Holocaust Memorial Museum had took over the material plundered from the Jasenovac Museum and kept, in extremely bad conditions, in the Bosnian Serb entity (the Republic of Srpska) since 1991.

According to the ministry's statement, 19 tin boxes with artifacts taken in 1991 from the museum built in memory of victims of the World War II concentration camp in the Croatian village of Jasenovac, were transported in Washington on 27 November 2000.

The stolen material included documents, films and photographs.

Under an agreement the Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Croatian ministry have reached, the material will be given back to Croatia by 26 October 2001.

The final agreement, signed by Culture Minister Antun Vujic and "Holocaust Memorial Museum" director Siane Salzmann, was made on 26 October 2000.

According to media reports, the trunks with the museum material were transported from the Republic of Srpska to Washington two months ago by NATO-led international forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina (SFOR) with the approval of the then Bosnian Serb entity's premier Milorad Dodik.

The ministry reported that the transferred material was being examined and processed by experts and the trunks would be opened in Washington in the presence of Croatian Embassy officials and the Jasenovac Museum Director Mate Rupic.

Culture Minister Vujic was quoted by the Croatian Television this evening as saying that the good cooperation between his country and the United States contributed to efforts aimed at finding the looted museum material.

The Holocaust Memorial Museum was set up in Washington in 1993. It is one of the world biggest museum facilities which gather, keep and display material and documentation on the horrible suffering of Jews in World War II. So far, 13 million people have visited it. Last summer, Croatian President and Premier, Stjepan Mesic and Ivica Racan respectively, toured that museum as well.