ĐUKANOVIĆ: ONE COMES TO BRATUNAC TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE SOULS OF 3,267 INNOCENT KILLED SERBS

BRATUNAC, JULY 4 /SRNA/ – Bratunac is not a place one comes to for an ordinary gathering; one comes to pay respects to the souls of 3,267 innocent killed Serbs from the Central Podrinje and Birač region and to confirm that they have not been forgotten, said Anđelka Đukanović, the daughter of the killed Anđelko Mlađenović.

“We are here today so that not a single name is forgotten. So that we do not forget the children who never got to grow up, the mothers who never welcomed their sons back, the fathers who were unable to protect their families, and all those who wanted only one thing – to live on their ancestral land,” she emphasized in her address in Bratunac at the commemoration marking more than three decades since the crimes against Serbs in Central Podrinje and Birač, attended by officials of Republika Srpska and Serbia, as well as Pastor Mark Burns, adviser for spiritual matters to U.S. President Donald Trump. Đukanović stated that every year Bratunac remembers 3,267 Serb civilians and soldiers who were killed in the Central Podrinje and Birač, stressing that behind every number stands someone’s father, mother, child, brother or sister. “Behind every number stands a name. Behind every name stands a fate. Few fates speak as strongly about the suffering of our people as the fate of my family, the Mlađenović family from Ježeštica, the municipality of Bratunac,” she said. She stated that on August 8, 1992, her grandfather Ljubomir lost his entire family in a single day, when he lost his wife Savka and sons Anđelko and Dragan in a brutal manner. “Behind my uncle Dragan were left his five-year-old son Nenad and his pregnant wife, who gave birth to a son 40 days later, proudly named after his father – Dragan. Behind my father Anđelko were my mother and I, a five-month-old baby. My grandfather Ljubomir died two years later from immense grief,” she said, adding that her father Anđelko, who was brutally killed, never lived to see his daughter grow up. She said she came to know her father through the love of people who remembered him and through stories describing him as an honest, hardworking and decent man. “I understood that a person does not live as long as their life lasts, but as long as the memory of them lasts,” Đukanović said. A memorial service was previously held at the Bratunac cemetery for 3,267 Serb civilians and soldiers from the Central Podrinje and Birač region killed by members of Muslim forces during the recent war, followed by wreath-laying at the memorial cross. The commemoration of more than three decades since the crimes against Serbs in Central Podrinje and Birač was attended by Republika Srpska President Siniša Karan, National Assembly Speaker Nenad Stevandić, Prime Minister Savo Minić, and SNSD Leader Milorad Dodik. Also present were the envoy of the Serb BiH Presidency member Boško Tomić, ministers in the Republika Srpska Government, members of the National Assembly, representatives of Republika Srpska in joint institutions, officials from the Government of Serbia and Montenegro, Russian Ambassador to BiH Igor Kalabukhov, and Republika Srpska senator Aleksandar Vulin. The memorial service was also attended by members of the Third Infantry /Republika Srpska/ Regiment of the BiH Armed Forces, representatives of organisations and associations originating from the Defensive-Patriotic War, heads of municipalities from Central Podrinje and Birač, and a large number of citizens.