South East Europe Online: Remembering the war

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Remembering the war

Vukovar: Day of remembrance18 November 2006 | 12:52 | Source: B92VUKOVAR -- Vukovar marks Remembrance Day, dedicated to the memory of the devastation of that town in the 1991 war.JNA tank in the devastated town (archive)JNA tank in the devastated town (archive)Vukovar fell on November 18, 1991, after a three-month siege conducted by the JNA. On that day, the Croatian forces’ resistance was broken, and non-Serb residents were forced to leave.The 15th anniversary of the Vukovar tragedy is marked under the motto, “A pilgrimage to Croatian freedom”. The participants will gather in front of the Vukovar hospital, to honor the Ovčara victims, forming the so-called remembrance convoy, walking the town’s streets for several miles before reaching the Memorial cemetery.As was the case in previous years, the ceremonies will be attended by the top Croatian state officials. Some 20,000 people are expected to take part this year, including the representatives of the Serbian NGO “Women in Black”.Paramilitaries and cilivians after the fall of Vukovar (archive)Paramilitaries and cilivians after the fall of Vukovar (archive)Official Croatian data shows that 1,800 Croatian troops took part in the three-month long battle for Vukovar, pitted against between 40,000 and 60,000 JNA soldiers and 600 armored vehicles. According to the same statistic, Croatia sustained a total of 1,624 victims, 1,100 of them civilian, while the daily infantry, aerial and artillery fire left 2,557 people wounded.More than 22,000 Croats and other non-Serbs left Vukovar after its fall to the JNA forces. Croatian Society of prisoners detained in camps in Serbia claims it has the data on 8,000 captured Croatian defenders and civilians who were detained in Serbia, 300 of which died there.More than 500 persons remain listed as missing 15 years later. Almost 90 percent of Vukovar was reduced to rubble during the fighting.Ovčara monumentOvčara monumentVukovar is the symbol of Croatia’s heaviest war devastation, yet despite this the process of rebuilding and normalization between the Serb and Croat communities there, although slow, is ongoing.The town’s population currently numbers just over 30,000, while ethnic makeup shows equal percentage of Serb and Croat residents. Although progress has been made, kindergartens and schools remain separated along ethnic lines.