On 23 August, the Croatian Parliament and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County commemorated the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes at three locations. The stops linked Goli otok, Sveti Grgur and the Kampor Memorial Cemetery on Rab.
A route of remembrance across three Kvarner locations
On 23 August 2026, the Croatian Parliament and the Assembly of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County jointly marked the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of All Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes. The official event did not lead to just one symbolic site, but to three locations in the Kvarner region.
Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković laid wreaths and lit candles on Goli otok, on Sveti Grgur and at the Kampor Memorial Cemetery on the island of Rab. This geographical sequence is the essence of the current report: remembrance was organised as a connected institutional route.
Goli otok: commemoration at the memorial plaque
On Goli otok, the ceremony took place at the memorial plaque. In the public imagination, the island is associated above all with political imprisonment and repression in socialist Yugoslavia. The latest parliamentary report describes the laying of wreaths and the lighting of a candle.
The ceremony is no substitute for a complete historical account of the camp system, its different phases or the experiences of individual prisoners. It does show the place the site occupies in Croatia's state culture of remembrance today.
Sveti Grgur: two plaques, two visible layers of remembrance
According to Parliament, remembrance on Sveti Grgur took place at two plaques: one erected by the Croatian government and another installed by former prisoners. State remembrance and remembrance carried by those directly affected therefore stand side by side at the same location.
It is precisely this duality that makes the site institutionally significant. It shows that remembrance arises not only from an official speech today, but also from earlier initiatives by people who experienced imprisonment and repression themselves.
Kampor on Rab is explicitly part of the route
The third stop was the Kampor Memorial Cemetery on Rab. There, tribute was paid to the victims of the fascist concentration camp that existed during the Italian occupation. Including Kampor in the same route broadens the focus beyond the two islands of Goli otok and Sveti Grgur.
A headline that mentions only the best-known stop loses this deliberate connection. The official day of remembrance is directed against Nazi, fascist and communist violence; Kampor is therefore not a side note, but part of the event's message.
Political statements remain political statements
In his speech, the Speaker of Parliament discussed the importance of remembrance for younger generations and referred to tens of thousands of people affected. Golden Beach reports such assessments solely as the speaker's statement and does not treat the figure as an independently verified historical total.
A robust historical assessment would require academic research, archival sources and a precise definition: which places, periods, forms of detention and groups of victims are being counted? This report documents a state commemoration; it cannot replace that research.
Why this is not yet a visitor's guide
The three sites cannot be turned into a spontaneous itinerary like three ordinary attractions. Boat services, landing access, the condition of paths and buildings, protection and safety rules, and respectful interpretation all need to be checked separately and up to date before a visit.
Nor does the fact that an official delegation reached a site prove the existence of a regular daily service or tourist infrastructure. Any future Golden Beach visitor's guide would therefore need to research historical depth and practical trip planning together. This article deliberately remains focused on the current act of remembrance.
Evidence
Sources & date
Sources support the facts. Planning notes and recommendations are Golden Beach editorial assessments.
- Predsjednik Hrvatskoga sabora Gordan Jandroković na obilježavanju Europskog dana sjećanjaCroatian Parliament · 23 August 2026, checked 23 August 2026organiser, occasion, three stops, memorial plaques and political statements made at the ceremony
- Goli Otok Croatia 2010Wikimedia Commons · photographed in 2010, checked 23 August 2026lead photograph by PaliGol under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Old prison – Goli OtokWikimedia Commons · checked 23 August 2026archive photograph of the prison ruins by Zoran Kurelić Rabko under CC BY-SA 3.0
- Otok GrgurWikimedia Commons · checked 23 August 2026archive photograph of Sveti Grgur by Roberta F. under CC BY-SA 3.0
- Gräberfeld bei Kampor Insel RabWikimedia Commons · checked 23 August 2026archive photograph of the memorial cemetery by APneunzehn74 under CC BY-SA 4.0
