“The article published in the JerusalemPost entitled „This disgraceful mocking of the Holocaust needs to stop now“ by David Goldman on Monday, 16 August 2021, puts forth a figure for the number of people murdered in the Jasenovac camp which is not only ridiculous, it plays into the hands of those who would like to whitewash the mass murder of primarily Serbs and Jews at the hands of the collaborationist Croatian Ustashe regime during World War II,” it said in a statement.
The article signed by David Goldman, an Australian journalist, claimed that the Yugoslav authorities had inflated the numbers of Holocaust victims “in a cynical attempt to extort money out of West Germany“. The article was removed from the Jerusalem Post with an apology to readers. The head of Serbia’s Genocide Victims Museum Dejan Ristic wrote an opinion piece for the Jerusalem Post saying that “the author of this revisionist article tries to deny tragic historical facts”.
The statement added that “the number of people murdered in Jasenovac by the Ustashe is still a matter for scholarly inquiry and discussion, but it is clear to reputable scholars that it is many times greater than the absurdly low figure of 4,500 thousand cited by Goldman, and many times less than the grossly inflated count of more than 800,000, that was widely touted in the Communist era and has been endorsed by Gideon Greif of late”.
Yad Vashem said that it encourages research into the history of the camp by responsible and dedicated scholars and will continue to disseminate their findings to the general public.
“At a time when Holocaust distortion is a significant feature in public discourse, it is incumbent on us to ensure that facts and content published in the media be as accurate as possible, and based on reliable sources. Ignoring this basic responsibility plays into the hands of those who seek to intentionally misrepresent the historical record,” the statement signed by Dr Robert Rozett, Senior Historian International Institute for Holocaust Research.
