SWC Israel Director Stresses Crucial Role of Memory in Light of Flawed Verdict in Kepiro Case at Novi Sad Memorial to Mark 70th Anniversary of January 1942 Massacre

Novi Sad, Serbia-The Simon Wiesenthal Center's chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, stressed the role of memory in assuring that the crimes of theHolocaust would not be erased or forgotten in his remarks at the memorial ceremony held here today to mark the 70^th anniversary of the mass murder by Hungarian forces ofJewish, Serb, and Roma civilians in this Serbian city on January 23, 1942. Zuroff stressed that the recent acquittal in July 2011 in Budapest of Hungarian gendarmerie officer SandorKepiro, who was one of the organizers of the massacre, and his subsequent burial as a heroic patriot, threatened to erase this terrible crime and absolve the killers of their guilt.

Dr. Zuroff's speech delivered today to a crowd of hundreds in Novi Sad:

”Today we mark the 70th anniversary of the horrific crimes committed by the Hungarian army and gendamerie on the banks of theDanube, not far from where we are currently standing. Those crimes were the product of politics and prejudice, an opportunistic alliance between Hungary and Nazi Germany and the racism,anti-Semitism, and extremism of the Third Reich and its allies.

“Seventy years is ostensibly a very long time, for many people an entire lifetime if not more, and there are those who would prefer that such terrible and tragic events be forgotten.Even worse, there are those who justify such crimes and consider their perpetrators heroes. Not long ago, Sandor Kepiro, one of these so- called Hungarian "heroes" died while his casewas being appealed in
Budapest, a case in which he was charged for his active role in the roundup of innocent citizens of Novi Sad-Jews, Serbs, and Roma//men, women, and children, who were marched to theriver to be murdered. He claimed that his assignment was to search for terrorists, dangerous people like 10 year old Lydia Brenners, 9 year old Dorothea Pintar, and 6 year old ArthurRosenthal.

“Kepiro's funeral was attended by many people who believed that he did his duty and was a true Hungarian patriot, some of whom even came wearing the same gendarmerie uniform Kepirowore, when he did his share to doom innocent people to death, the same uniforms worn by the Hungarian gendarmes, who two years later organized the deportation of the Jews of Novi Sad toAuschwitz. Indeed heroes and patriots.

“There are two acceptable responses to the terrible crimes committed seventy years ago-justice and memory. But justice, as we saw last July in the Buda District Court, can be severelyflawed. Judge Varga admitted that Sandor Kepiro was not innocent, but after he outrageously disqualified all the documents and testimony against him, he decreed that the prosecution hadfailed to prove his guilt.

“So that leaves us with memory, which is why our presence here united is so critical. And it is from here, so close to the site of the murders, that we must declare loud and clear thatno flawed and politicized verdict can change the facts and the guilt of the perpetrators, nor can it erase the memory of the victims which will remain in our hearts forever.”

For more information call 00-972-50-7214156, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobiledevice.


The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400.000 members. It is an NGO at international agencies including the UnitedNations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament.