Editing Historical negationism (section)

====Croatian war crimes in World War II====
{{further|Far-right in Croatia|Denial of the genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia}}

Some Croats, including some high-ranked officials and political leaders during the 1990s and far-right organization members, have attempted to minimize the magnitude of the [[Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|genocide perpetrated against Serbs]] and other ethnic minorities in the World War II [[puppet state]] of [[Nazi Germany]], the [[Independent State of Croatia]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Institute for War and Peace Reporting|IWPR]]|author=Drago Hedl|url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/croatias-willingness-tolerate-fascist-legacy|title=Croatia's Willingness To Tolerate Fascist Legacy Worries Many|work=BCR Issue 73|date=10 November 2005|access-date=30 November 2010|author-link=Drago Hedl}}</ref> By 1989, the future President of Croatia [[Franjo Tuđman]] (who had been a [[Yugoslav Partisans|Partisan]] during World War II), had embraced [[Croatian nationalism]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sadkovich |first1=James J. |title=Father of His Country? Franjo Tudjman and the Creation of Contemporary Croatia |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/304-father-his-country-franjo-tudjman-and-the-creation-contemporary-croatia |publisher=Wilson Center |date=13 October 2004}}</ref> and published ''[[Horrors of War: Historical Reality and Philosophy]]'', in which he questioned the official number of victims killed by the [[Ustaše]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]], particularly at the [[Jasenovac concentration camp]].<ref name="Sindbaek">{{cite book |last1=Sindbaek |first1=Tia |title=Usable History?: Representations of Yugoslavia's Difficult Past from 1945 to 2002 |date=2012 |publisher=ISD LLC |isbn=978-8-77124-107-5 |pages=178–179 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLhYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA178}}</ref> Yugoslav and [[Serbian historiography]] had long exaggerated the number of victims at the camp.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Milekic |first1=Sven |title=Croatia's Jasenovac Death Toll: A Political Numbers Game |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2018/01/31/croatia-s-jasenovac-death-toll-a-political-numbers-game-01-31-2018/ |website=Balkan Insight |publisher=BIRN |date=31 January 2018}}</ref> Tuđman criticized the long-standing figures, but also described the camp as a "work camp", giving an estimate of between 30,000 and 40,000 deaths.<ref name="Sindbaek" /> Tuđman's government's toleration of [[Ustaša]] symbols and their crimes often dismissed in public, frequently strained relations with Israel.<ref>{{cite news|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-croatia-hitler-idUSL1928296120070220|title=Croatia probes why Hitler image was on sugar packets|date=20 February 2007|access-date=12 October 2012|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924090600/http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/02/20/us-croatia-hitler-idUSL1928296120070220|url-status=live}}</ref>

Croatia's far-right often advocates the false theory that Jasenovac was a "labour camp" where mass murder did not take place.<ref name="Milekic">{{cite web |last1=Milekic |first1=Sven |title=Croatia Ex-President Shown Downplaying WWII Crimes |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2017/01/24/videos-reveal-croatian-ex-president-shocking-wwii-statements-01-24-2017/ |website=Balkan Insight |publisher=BIRN |date=24 January 2017}}</ref> In 2017, two videos of former Croatian president [[Stjepan Mesić]] from 1992 were made public in which he stated that Jasenovac was not a death camp.<ref name="Milekic" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Mesić na snimci iz devedesetih: 'Jasenovac nije bio logor smrti. Tko je stigao tamo, bio je spašen' |url=http://www.novilist.hr/Vijesti/Hrvatska/Mesic-na-snimci-iz-devedesetih-Jasenovac-nije-bio-logor-smrti.-Tko-je-stigao-tamo-bio-je-spasen |work=Novi list |date=23 January 2017}}</ref> The far-right NGO "The Society for Research of the Threefold Jasenovac Camp" also advocates this disproven theory, in addition to claiming that the camp was used by the Yugoslav authorities following the war to imprison Ustasha members and regular [[Croatian Home Guard (World War II)|Home Guard]] army troops until 1948, then alleged [[Stalinism|Stalinists]] until 1951.<ref name="Milekic" /> Its members include journalist [[Igor Vukić]], who wrote his own book advocating the theory, Catholic priest [[Stjepan Razum]] and academic [[Josip Pečarić]].<ref name="Vladisavljevic">{{cite web |last1=Vladisavljevic |first1=Anja |title=Book Event Questioning WWII Crimes Planned for Zagreb Church |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2019/01/07/new-revisionist-book-on-jasenovac-wwii-camp-01-07-2019-1/ |website=Balkan Insight |publisher=BIRN |date=7 January 2019}}</ref> The ideas promoted by its members have been amplified by mainstream media interviews and book tours.<ref name="Vladisavljevic" /> The last book, "The Jasenovac Lie Revealed" written by Vukić, prompted the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] to urge Croatian authorities to ban such works, noting that they "would immediately be banned in Germany and Austria and rightfully so".<ref>{{cite web |title=Simon Wiesenthal Centre urges Croatia to ban Jasenovac revisionist works |url=http://hr.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a361178/Simon-Wiesenthal-Centre-urges-Croatia-to-ban-Jasenovac-revisionist-works.html |website=hr.n1info.com |publisher=N1 Zagreb |date=9 January 2019 |access-date=21 April 2020 |archive-date=9 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009060853/http://hr.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a361178/Simon-Wiesenthal-Centre-urges-Croatia-to-ban-Jasenovac-revisionist-works.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Jewish rights group urges Croatia to ban pro-Nazi book |url=https://apnews.com/11edaa150f63423989db3540cbbdbd69 |publisher=Associated Press |date=9 January 2019}}</ref> In 2016, Croatian filmmaker [[Jakov Sedlar]] released a documentary ''[[Jasenovac – istina|Jasenovac – The Truth]]'' which advocated the same theories, labelling the camp as a "collection and labour camp".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Milekic |first1=Sven |title=Dishonour for Zagreb Over 'Alternative Facts' About Holocaust |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2017/04/21/dishonour-for-zagreb-over-alternative-facts-about-holocaust-04-21-2017/ |website=BalkanInsight |access-date=5 September 2019 |date=21 April 2017}}</ref> The film contained alleged falsifications and forgeries, in addition to denial of crimes and hate speech towards politicians and journalists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegram.hr/politika-kriminal/ugledni-odvjetnik-tvrdi-da-bi-jakov-sedlar-zbog-filma-jasenovac-i-istina-mogao-u-zatvor-evo-zasto/|title=Jakov Sedlar bi zbog filma 'Jasenovac – istina' mogao u zatvor|language=hr|date=18 April 2016|publisher=Telegram}}</ref>