KUŠTRINOVIĆ: CANONIZATION PRESERVES SERBIAN VICTIMS FROM OBLIVION

BANJA LUKA, MAY 18 /SRNA/ - The decision of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church to canonize the holy martyrs of Garavice and Bihać is another way to preserve more than 14,500 Serbian victims who perished in 1941 from oblivion, Nebojša Kuštrinović, president of the “Garavice 1941” Committee, told SRNA.

Kuštrinović emphasized that the truth about Garavice was long concealed, but it was always known who the perpetrators of this terrible crime during the time of the Independent State of Croatia were, at a site located just two kilometers from the center of Bihać. “It is well known that the Ustaše massacred our Serbs, as well as Roma and Jews,” Kuštrinović emphasized. He said that today, unfortunately, only a small number of Serbs live in Bihać, while no Jews remain in that area. Kuštrinović added that the “Garavice 1941” Association is not alone in its efforts to preserve the memory of the victims, and that the institutions of Republika Srpska have supported the efforts to ensure this site is not forgotten. “We know that forgetting means killing the truth, but we will never allow that to happen,” Kuštrinović said, adding that the Serbian Orthodox Church has now contributed to this by canonizing them as saints. He said that Garavice deserves to have a memorial church and that the “Garavice 1941” Committee has designed a project for building a chapel and an alley of remembrance. The Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church has canonized the Holy Martyrs of Garavice and Bihać, the Holy Martyrs of Rmanj, and Hieromartyr Ilija Rodić, parish priest of Trubar, the Eparchy of Bihać-Petrovac announced. The names of the holy martyrs of Garavice and Bihać who perished in 1941 at Garavice, in the Bihać and Cazin regions, have been entered, along with the names of the holy martyrs of Rmanj who suffered since the founding of the holy community of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker at the Rmanj Monastery, as well as the name of Saint Hieromartyr Ilija Rodić, who was killed during World War II in Trubar.