KOŠARAC: THE DRINA IS A GREEN GRAVE FOR MORE THAN 6,000 INNOCENT SERBS IN STARI BROD

VIŠEGRAD, MAY 30 /SRNA/ – Deputy Chair of the Council of Ministers, Staša Košarac, stated that the Drina River is a green grave for more than 6,000 innocent Serbs who perished in its waters while fleeing from the Ustashe in Stari Brod in 1942. He added, however, that the former state pushed this crime into darkness for the sake of "brotherhood and unity."

On the occasion of marking 83 years since the suffering of the Serbian people in Stari Brod and Miloševići near Višegrad, Košarac emphasized that deep respect is paid to the innocent victims who suffered solely because they were Serbs. "For the sake of brotherhood and unity, the former state pushed this crime into darkness. Instead of bringing known criminals to justice and sentencing them, a silence fell over Serbian suffering. A silence over the killing of Serb civilians, women, children, and the elderly," Košarac stated. He stressed that the massacre in Stari Brod and Miloševići remains one of the most tragic testimonies of the Serbian people's suffering during World War II, and a warning that the truth must never be forgotten or silenced. "Their blood spilled on the banks of the Drina was not and must not be in vain; it obligates us to preserve Republika Srpska, our national identity, our faith, and our dignity," Košarac pointed out. According to him, throughout history, the Serbian people have demonstrated the strength to survive the greatest suffering and to emerge from it even stronger. "Let the memory of these martyrs be our pledge never to give up on Republika Srpska, freedom, and national unity," Košarac said. In Stari Brod near Višegrad today, 83 years are being marked since the crime against more than 6,000 Serbs from the Sarajevo-Romanija region, who were slaughtered by Jure Francetić's Ustashe. In the spring of 1942, Ustashe units led by Francetić launched an offensive with the intention of expelling and killing the Serb population from the eastern part of BiH in order to achieve their goal—the border of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) on the Drina River. The massacre took place on the banks of the Drina, in the settlements of Stari Brod and Miloševići. In memory of those who perished in Stari Brod, Republika Srpska erected a memorial monument in 2008, a memorial chapel was consecrated in 2014, and five years later, a memorial museum dedicated to the Stari Brod victims was built. The Memorial Museum to the Stari Brod Victims in Stari Brod was consecrated in September 2019. It features 27 sculptures with 39 figures, symbolizing the refugee column and Serbian mothers with children in their arms entering the swollen Drina River.