Dear guests, ladies and gentlemen,
 
It is a great honour for me to be with you today at the opening of this exhibition. May I take this opportunity to first of all thank its organisers – The American Jewish Committee, the Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts at UCLA Hillel Center, the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies, as well as their Croatian partners, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. We are especially indebted to Ms Branka Sömen who coordinated all activities pertaining to this event with much enthusiasm and energy.
 
Here, before us, are the stories of one hundred and four courageous individuals, Croatian citizens, who must never be forgotten. They should not fall into oblivion because they demonstrated in the most daring manner possible what it means to be a good human being, a good neighbour, a good citizen. In the tragic days of the Second World War they boldly opposed evil. They risked their own lives, often also the lives and security of their own families in order to rescue their Jewish neighbours, friends and fellow countrymen. They had the courage not only to discard the evil of anti-Semitism and Nazism, but also to actively fight it. They acted in harmony with their moral conscience, in harmony with their own sense of duty – as individuals committed to moral principles, not to the criminal nature of the regime they happened to live under. For this reason each and every one of these individuals deserves our special and profound gratitude.
 
Ladies and gentlemen,
 
For those of us who come from the newly established and democratic Republic of Croatia, the lessons drawn from their courageous acts should be remembered for certain specific reasons as well. Developments in the Second World War deeply divided Croats just as they did most of the other European nations. Croatia was, unfortunately, not spared of its own version of Nazism and extremism. Although never elected by the people and although never even close to representing the majority of the Croatian people, the Croatian fascists – Ustashas – committed a horrible crime of genocide and fratricidal massacre. The principal victims of their sadistic acts were Jews, 80 per cent of whom, some 30,000 of their pre-war number of 37,000, perished in the Holocaust.
 
The genocide perpetrated by the Ustashas against Jews, Serbs, Roma, Croats, especially against all anti-fascists represents the darkest chapter in Croatian political and social history. We shall never tolerate any attempts whatsoever at promoting the revisionist version of history aimed at denying the Holocaust. This would be an insult to these brave people whom we are commemorating today. The present-day, democratic Croatian state feels deep compassion for the tribulations of Jews during the Second World War. We sincerely and deeply bow our heads when recalling this tragedy.
 
The persons we are commemorating today – Croatian Righteous among the Nations – may have been the bravest among their contemporaries, but they were not alone in their resistance to the evil of Nazism in Croatia and Yugoslavia of the time. The partisan movement led by Marshal Tito, a Croat born in Croatia, was probably the largest resistance movement in occupied Europe. Its emergence as a combat force as early as 1941 enabled some 4,500 Jews from all regions of Yugoslavia of the time to join the organised struggle against the Nazis. 1,318 of them gave up their lives for freedom while 3,254 of them survived to see the day of liberation as members of the victorious partisan forces. 1,737 Croatian Jews joined the partisan army and 325 of them lost their lives. We remember them with deep gratitude.
 
Many Croats and Serbs from Croatia as well as members of other nationalities then living on the territory of Croatia opposed the evil Ustasha regime and actively fought in the partisan resistance movement. As President of the Republic of Croatia I proudly emphasise that the share of Croats, Serbs and other nations living in Croatia in the units of the victorious partisan army in 1945 was substantially higher than the share of Croatia's population in the total population of Yugoslavia. One third of all Yugoslav fighters against Nazism came from Croatia. It was thanks to them, their courageous resistance to Nazism, that the entire territory of Croatia was not liberated by some alien force, but by our own freedom fighters – who were also allies of Americans, British and Russians. Our Constitution acknowledges their contribution by stating explicitly that present-day Croatia is founded on the values of anti-Fascism and derives its roots from resistance to Fascism during the Second World War.
 
One of these brave freedom fighters was also my father Ante, who joined the partisans in 1942 at the age of 17. He was a Croat too, and was appalled and shocked by the evil foreign occupation and crimes perpetrated by the Ustashas. For this reason, this exhibition has a special meaning to me. I am exceptionally proud of his participation in the anti-fascist struggle!
 
As President of the Republic of Croatia, a modern democracy that is soon to join the European Union of democratic nations, I wish to emphasise again our deep commitment to the achievements of the struggle against Nazism and Fascism. These achievements have been the foundation of the post-war world order ever since 1945. The exhibition that I have the honour to open today focuses primarily on the courageous people who confronted evil and oppression. But let it also be a reminder that we need to cherish freedom and pluralism – many in our recent history have given up their lives for them. We should never again allow those who suppress the freedom of individuals and collective identities to prevail and harm us.
 
The Righteous that we are celebrating today are a powerful bond between two friendly peoples, Croatian and Jewish. Recently, I have had the honour to discuss both the past and the future with Israeli President Peres. The tormented past that we saw together in Jasenovac, a death concentration camp, is behind us. Its lessons clear our view into the future; a future in which Croatia and Israel, Croatian and Jewish peoples, will cooperate in culture, science, the economy and new technologies. The United States of America, a major partner of Croatia, has become the home of many Jews, some of whom arrived from Croatia, as well as of many Croats. I am proud of our Croatian people who here too, in the States, have proven their hard work, honesty, friendship and understanding for members of other ethnic groups. Certainly, they are part of the heritage left to us by the Righteous.
 
Therefore, I am proud to declare this exhibition open!