The memorial plaque dedicated to Ustaša camp victims—Serbian, Jewish, and others—on Pag Island has been destroyed for the fourth time, according to Dušan Bastašić, president of the Jadovno 1941 Association from Banja Luka. The plaque, located in the Slana cove at the site of a World War II-era concentration camp operated by the fascist Independent State of Croatia (NDH), was installed in June 2026 and commemorates those killed in the Slana and Metajna camps in 1941.

Bastašić reported that he received a photograph of the shattered plaque from Jernej Božič, a Slovenian visitor, who reassembled the fragments as a mosaic. Božič expressed in his message that destroying memorials cannot change history, and called on local residents to join him in honoring the victims. The plaque’s inscription remembered the Serbian, Jewish, and other victims of the Ustaša camps, which were part of the Gospić-Jadovno-Pag camp system in 1941.

Repeated Vandalism and Local Response

Bastašić noted that this is the fourth time such a plaque has been destroyed at the site. The original memorial, erected in 1975, was destroyed at the start of the Yugoslav wars, and subsequent replacements in 2010 and 2013 were also vandalized. He stated that the latest plaque’s inscription was initially controversial for Ivan Dabo, the mayor of Novalja, but a compromise was reached after discussions. According to Bastašić, the mayor expressed hope that the plaque would remain in place as a tribute to the victims, though he admitted he could not guarantee its safety year-round. Dabo also apologized to the descendants of the victims.

The Slana camp, established in June 1941 and closed after about three months by Italian forces, was part of a broader network of camps where thousands of Serbs and Jews were killed. In June 2015, descendants of the victims, together with the Jadovno 1941 Association, installed and consecrated a cross at the site between the former Serbian and Jewish camp areas. The repeated destruction of memorials at Slana underscores the ongoing struggle over historical memory and recognition of atrocities committed during the NDH period.