Consecration of the Memorial Chapel of the Holy Serbian New Martyrs at the Military Cemetery in Mauthausen

The President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik attended today the consecration of the Memorial Chapel of the Holy Serbian New Martyrs at the Military Cemetery in Mauthausen, where thousands of Serbian soldiers and civilians are buried.

The President of the Republic of Srpska expressed his satisfaction since after 100 years the time has come to mark this place and to show that the memory of the Serbian suffering will not disappear.

The President of Srpska expressed his gratitude to the martyred ancestors for the faith and trust they had in defending the Serbian identity, which is linked to the Serbian Orthodox Church, national feeling, alphabet and language.

“Just as they were then, so you are today, in modern Austria, defenders of our identity and faith, and that is why I am proud to be here with you”, said the President Dodik.

The President of the Republic recalled that in 2014, when he came to this place, he was somewhat embarrassed by the fact that such a large number of martyred Serbs did not have a worthy memorial, and that at that time he accepted the initiative together with the Minister in the Government of Serbia Nikola Selaković to build a Memorial Chapel.

“We will continue to work and highlight the names of the victims”, it was added by the President Dodik.

The President of Srpska emphasized that the Serbian history is difficult and that the Serb people were almost cut in half in two great wars.

The President of the Republic of Srpska reminded that half of the male population died in the First World War, some of them in Mauthausen, since there were 300 camps in which 200,000 Serbs perished.

The President of the Republic added that during the First World War, 10,000 Serbs were killed in the camp in Doboj, of which almost 1,000 were children, adding that these were the first concentration camps.

“From there, then from here, then again in a circle until Auschwitz, Dachau, Jasenovac, Prebilovci, Jadovno, Brod na Drini, Garavice near Bihać, Šušnjari near Sanski Most, until the last ones in “Lora”’ in Split in the early nineties where our people suffered again, and to “Viktor Bubanj” in Sarajevo, where Serbs were brought and killed there only because they belong to the Serb people and the Serbian religion”, said the President Dodik.

The President of Srpska pointed out that the entire past century was a century of suffering.

“The suffering series of the last century would have to create our energy, which we could turn into energy for our unification, which does not always have to mean only territorial unification, but our commitment to our people without hating others, as we did when we suffered. We have to return to our roots and in our roots to find our strength for the future”, it was emphasized by the President Dodik.

The President of the Republic thanked His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije for celebrating this important moment with the bishops today, consecrating the Chapel, as well as the Austrian authorities who gave permission for the construction.

The President of the Republic of Srpska laid a wreath at the central monument at the Military Cemetery in Mauthausen, where thousands of Serbian soldiers and civilians are buried.