A criminal such as Jure Francetic, an Ustasha murderer who killed so many Serbs and Jews during WWII, should not have an honorary place or a street named after him, Jewish historian Eli Tauber told Patria news agency responding to to a tweet by the Bosnian Croat Leader on the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“A reminder to everyone – Never again,” wrote beneath a photo of the Zagreb Cathedral where the International Holocaust Remembrance Day was marked on January 27.

“Accompanied by the Zagreb Mayor, Milan Bandic, and Monsignor Zlatko Koren in front of the Zagreb Cathedral. It sent a powerful message of remembrance of all the innocent victims of the Nazi ideology and regime. A reminder to everyone – Never again,” Covic tweeted. But historian Eli Tauber said this message is immoral, and before making it “one should clean up their own backyard first.”

“A criminal such as Jure Francetic, an Ustasha murderer who killed so many Serbs and Jews during WWII, should not have an honorary place or a street named after him,” Tauber stressed, recalling a Mostar street named after Francetic – a Croatian Ustasha Commissioner for the Bosnia and Herzegovina regions of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II and commander of the 1st Ustasha Regiment of the Ustasha Militia, later known as the Black Legion.

He was responsible for the persecution and murder of countless Serbs and Jews in Croatia and Bosnia during WWII.

“It's abnormal and immoral,” Tauber added.

Another street in the Western part of Mostar, mostly populated by Bosnian Croats, which also seats the headquarters of the biggest Croat party, the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) led by Dragan Covic, bears the name Mile Budak, another Ustasha movement member. This street is less than a kilometre away from the main HDZ BiH base.

“Unfortunately, the left-leaning and centre-left parties did nothing to stop the naming of streets by such individuals which are now present across the country,” Tauber said for Patria news agency. “While the entire world fights to destroy everything related to fascism, we continue to allow the existence of ideologies and memories of people who should have been erased from history a long time ago.”