TRIBUTE PAID TO 88 SERBS FOUND IN A MASS GRAVE

BROD, APRIL 26 /SRNA/ - Wreaths were laid today at the city cemetery in Brod, and a tribute was paid to 88 Serbs who were killed during the occupation of this municipality and thrown into a mass grave, which was discovered only after the city's liberation in the Patriotic Defense War.

Zoran Vidić, the president of the presidency of the Veterans' Organization of Brod, said that among the victims were both civilians and soldiers, and the first exhumation took place from April 26 to May 14, 1993, when 44 bodies were identified. "We are at a sacred place, perhaps the holiest in our municipality. The occupation of Brod took place on March 3, 1992, when the Croatian army crossed the bridge over the Sava River, occupied this part of the city, and committed crimes against the Serbian people, including the killings of the Martić and Dujanić families on March 25, and then on March 26 in Sijekovac. By May 12, they had expelled the entire Serbian population," said Vidić. He added that after the formation of the Republika Srpska Army and the Brod Battalion, the liberation of Brod began, which took place on October 7, when General Slavko Lisica declared the Day of Liberation of this municipality. "We were the army, the police, but we never had any camps anywhere. There were no mass graves. In Brod, we found seven mass graves, and there were 10 camps for Serbs. The largest mass grave was discovered here, at the city cemetery, from which 89 Serbs were exhumed," said Vidić in his address to the attendees. He reminded that after Mrkonjić Grad, the second-largest mass grave was discovered in Brod. "In this exhumed mass grave, one soldier was found beheaded, and three years ago, his head was found and buried. This is a place we must never forget, so that history does not repeat itself," said Vidić. Wreaths were laid in front of the memorial by the families of the killed, the delegation of the Brod Veterans' Organization, and the mayor of Brod, Milan Zečević. In March 2000, the Veterans' Organization placed a memorial plaque at the site of the mass grave, and in 2024, a new memorial monument was built in the shape of a cross.