Arie Livne, a friend of the Jadovno association in 1941, left us.

Two years have passed since Arie Livne passed away. Uncle Arie was a participant and benefactor of the First International Conference on Jadovno held in June 2011 in Banja Luka.

SRPSKI

Without his crucial help, there would be no conference.

He was our friend who advised us with a lot of understanding and, when it was necessary, benevolently criticized.

Here is the transcript of his addressing to the conference participants:

„Highly respected participants of this historic and important conference, ladies and gentlemen, I have the great honor to welcome this conference on behalf of the President of the Republic of Srpska, Mr. Milorad Dodik.“ I stand before you deeply excited.

I think, as I see people, I am perhaps the only survivor of the Holocaust, whose entire family was destroyed in the Holocaust.

It doesn’t matter where it was, all the places, all the killing grounds Jasenovac, Auschwitz, Birkenau, Jadovno, everywhere they killed children, women, our parents in the most brutal way. We are here to never forget and never forgive.

My predecessors said, the predecessor of my speech said that there is no more fear of genocide.

Unfortunately, I would disagree with that.

Neo-Nazi forces in the world are growing stronger, the state of the Jewish people, Israel is under constant threat of destruction, which means genocide, and we all need to fight against it together. Neo-Nazism is a danger like cancer, we don’t notice it, and it is getting stronger and stronger, pay attention to what is happening in the world.

Even though we are small, we should fight against it.

Dear friends, dear respected friends, we live in a time of history, where cynicism and disbelief in any ideology is present, in a world that no longer believes in almost anything, except maybe money.

In that world, we should especially respect the people who are here now and others, there are still many who find time and fight against that evil, to preserve ideals, to preserve our feelings for those who are not there.

In one of my speeches in Jasenovac, more precisely in Gradina, I said: „No one has the right to speak on behalf of those who are not there!“.

Maybe because of my 90 years and because of the victims, because my whole family was destroyed, I take the right to say what those who are no longer with us would say.

I think they would agree with us that we should do everything, but do everything so that they are not forgotten, to remember them, because we know that a man dies twice, once when he died and the second time when we forgot him completely.

We must not allow ourselves to forget those who are no longer with us, those who died partly for ideals, partly just because they were Serbs, Jews and Roma.

But there are also many other nations. Let’s not forget the 22 million victims that the Soviet Union gave in the war. Therefore, it is my honor, a great great honor, to greet you, to wish you happy and successful work, and a long life.

I especially want to emphasize and greet the organizer and president of this conference, Mr. Dušan Bastašić, whom I met two or three years ago, I can’t remember, who first presented his plan for Jadovno to me then. I think he deserves every possible honor that he managed to organize this conference.

I wish him to continue with his historical work, which will bring him peace, deep peace of mind at the end of his life. I wish you all successful work and happiness in life.

Cheers.“