Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic apologized Wednesday to surviving camp inmates and Serbian citizens for the fact that the main tower at the former Nazi concentration camp Staro Sajmiste (Old Trade Fair) in Belgrade was in such a bad state, Beta reported.

Attending a ceremony marking the start of renovation work on the main tower at the Staro Sajmiste concentration camp, Vucic said he was sorry that for almost 80 years no one “looked after the past, or after the future”.

“To our shame, we have had more important things to do than to focus on the victims, they were left aside for the sake of daily-political goals,” Vucic said, adding that the place is run-down because it has been neglected.

Vucic said the truth about the camp was neglected for a long time and that it is now finally being set free, 78 years after the camp was abolished and added that he was proud “to be part of the generation that liberated Staro Sajmiste.”

The reconstruction of the main tower is just the beginning, Vucic said and announced the opening of two more memorial center museum facilities in which documents, photos and evidence of crimes against Serbs, Roma and Jews will be exhibited.

“Our task is to cherish the memories of our fellow citizens who perished for no reason. By building a modern memorial, anyone who passes through here will see what had happened and will look at the crimes committed with different eyes,” Vucic said.