Holocaust survivors denounce pope’s Croatia Statement

BETA Tanjug 9/6/2011 BELGRADE, WASHINGTON — The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors on June 6 blasted Pope Benedict XVI over his statement about WW2 Croatian Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac. The spiritual leader of the Roman Catholics claimed during his visit to Zagreb that Stepinac – tried and found guilty of collaboration with the fascist Ustasha regime of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) – was a defender of Jews, Orthodox Christians and anyone under persecution. That regime ran death camps, including the largest – Jasenovac, where Serbs, but also Jews and Roma, were slaughtered.