The Jasenovac Research Institute is a non-profit human rights organization and research institute committed to establishing the truth about the Holocaust in Yugoslavia and dedicated to the search for justice for its victims. The JRI promotes research and activities designed to enlighten the world to the crimes of genocide committed at Jasenovac and wartime Yugoslavia against Serbs, Jews and Romas and provides assistance to all groups and individuals who likewise seek justice for these victims.
“The crimes of the fascist Ustashe against the Serbs in the notorious camp of Jasenovac must be known — crimes that are the worst ones along with those committed against the Jews in the Holocaust.”
Simon Wiesenthal
History & Statement of Purpose
The Jasenovac Research Institute was founded on the belief that the failure to learn the lessons of the genocide committed against Serbs, Jews and Gypsies during the Second World War rests at the very core of recent events in the Balkans. Jasenovac, which represents the greatest crimes of genocide ever committed in the Balkans, has been largely overlooked by Western scholars, while its legacy has been distorted and its victims have been either ignored or victimized yet again by Holocaust revisionists. Central to the lessens of Jasenovac is the slogan “Never again!”. However, the failure to observe this warning and to recognize the great crimes committed at Jasenovac has reaped not only the expected consequences of a revival of fascism in the Balkans, but with it, a deadly, racist demonization of the Serbian people. For these reasons, this foundation and all individuals and work connected to it are dedicated both to preserving the memory of Jasenovac and to the search for justice for its victims.
Goals of the Foundation
- To promote research and activities designed to enlighten the world to the crimes committed at Jasenovac, to learn its lessons, and to pursue the search for justice for the victims of Jasenovac.
- To promote research and other activities that further knowledge of all aspects of the genocide committed against Serbs, Jews and Gypsies in the Balkans during World War II, and to place this within the larger context of the Holocaust and the study of other genocides in history.
- To cooperate with all other groups and individuals who likewise seek justice for the victims of genocide.
- To foster unity, justice and survival for the Serbian people and for their cultural heritage worldwide, wherever they live, and wherever it is threatened.
- To mobilize the Serbian people, and all progressive political forces worldwide, in a political struggle to end the war currently being waged against the Serbs.
- To fight racism, fascism, imperialism, and neo-colonialism in all of its manifestations wherever they appear and no matter whom its intended victims may be.
- To promote cooperation between all peoples in the Balkans in order to seek a lasting, just and equitable peace and a prosperous future in the region.
- To promote better relations, friendship and understanding between the Serbs and other peoples, and to cooperate with all people worldwide in this pursuit on the basis of the universal ideals of democratic rights, peace and justice.
