PRODANOVIĆ: WE MUST NOT FORGET SERBIAN SUFFERING AND VICTIMS

BRATUNAC, JUNE 29 /SRNA/ - The Serbs endured great suffering in Podrinje during the last war, and those victims and crimes must not be forgotten, said the Mayor of Bratunac, Lazar Prodanović.

"We must nurture a culture of remembrance, honor the victims, and pass on the knowledge of their suffering to younger generations for the sake of the freedom the Serb people enjoy today in Republika Srpska," Prodanović told SRNA. Prodanović said that preparations are nearing completion to pay tribute to the 3,267 fallen civilians and soldiers, and reminded that the memorial service will be officiated by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije. Speaking about the suffering of Serbs, which he witnessed as a wartime surgeon at the Zvornik Hospital, Prodanović recalled horrific events and scenes, severe injuries, and the exhausting efforts of medical staff in providing care, performing surgeries, and treating the wounded. He stated that the beginning of the war and the entire year of 1992 were the most difficult, as the wounded were brought in daily, and there were days when dozens of severely injured soldiers and civilians arrived. “That year, mass crimes were committed during the incursions of Muslim forces into Serbian villages, and no one has been held accountable for those crimes. The ignoring of Serb victims by the international community and the BiH judiciary is unacceptable and must be condemned,” Prodanović emphasized. "If no one is held accountable for 3,267 victims, most of whom are civilians, it is proof of the one-sidedness and unprofessionalism, or rather the bias, of the judiciary in which trust has been lost," Prodanović emphasized. Speaking about those most difficult days, Prodanović said that medical teams determined priorities to save the lives of the most seriously endangered. "There was no time to wait. We lacked surgeons and anesthesiologists, and we worked two shifts, day and night, during certain periods. The wounds were varied, including the most severe types caused by different weapons. There were horrifying scenes that deeply affected us doctors and medical staff as human beings," Prodanović recalled. He remembered a girl from Kozluk who had her arm amputated, and Ilija Lazić from Osmaci, who underwent heart surgery and is still alive today. As he said, July 1992 was especially difficult when Muslim forces from Srebrenica raided Serbian villages Zagoni, Magašići, Ranča, Ježestica, Sase, Zalazje, and committed crimes there.