The ceremony was organised by the Serb National Council (SNV) and began with the laying of wreaths at the local cemetery in tribute to Dalmatian Partisans killed during World War II.

In attendance were about a thousand people, including representatives of anti-fascist war veterans' associations, Serbian Ambassador Stanimir Vukicevic and the former President of Croatia and honorary president of the Federation of Anti-Fascist Fighters, Stjepan Mesic.

Mesic said that the Uprising Day marked the day when Croats, Serbs and other ethnic groups began a struggle for their freedom against the occupier of their country and against those who had turned Croatia into a country of terror. He said that the Uprising Day was a great day in the history of the Croatian people and a great day for all true antifascists, regardless of the generation they belonged to.

"Memory should not be the property of the antifascists alone, but also of the government which should see to it that dates like this are observed accordingly. The government should protect us from indoctrinated rabble-rousers who are trying to sweep away this gathering. Only when the Croatian government starts to observe dates like this one, only then will Croatia prove in practice its commitment to antifascism," Mesic said, describing nearby protesters as "quasi-patriots and potential grave-diggers of Croatian history."

"The Right is well-connected, aggressive, loud, and backed by the Church. That is why ten right-wingers are louder than hundreds of antifascists," Mesic said and added: "That is why we need to reach out to young people and tell them the truth which is on our side." He said that "history should stay in books, and antifascism, as the foundation of our history, should be our future."

The SNV president and member of Parliament from the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), Milorad Pupovac, said that this was the day when some people should hang their heads in shame.

"Seventy-one years ago about 300 Serb civilians from this area were killed and thousands were displaced from their homes, but that was no excuse for killing equally innocent Croats in Brotnja and its surroundings," Pupovac said, adding that it was dishonest of those who use that case to silence the antifascists.

"Antifascism was not just a struggle for dear life, but also a struggle for social justice and equality, and a struggle for brotherhood and harmony among the peoples. We need such antifascism in Croatia today," Pupovac said.

About 50 members of the Autochthonous Croatian Party of Rights staged a protest rally in a fenced-off area at the foot of the monument commemorating the Uprising Day. The protest was held under the watchful eyes of about 200 police.

Demonstrators have staged rallies in Srb on the Uprising Day for several years now to protest against crimes committed by Serb extremists against Croat civilians in Brotnja and surrounding villages in August 1941.

Srb is located about 200 kilometres south of Zagreb, on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.