FLOWERS LAID AT SITE OF SERB SUFFERING IN AUGUST 1941

ZVORNIK, AUGUST 21 /SRNA/ - A memorial service was held today in Drinjača near Zvornik and flowers were laid at the site where, following the proclamation of the so-called Independent State of Croatia /NDH/ in 1941, local Ustasha, Muslims and Croats, committed a grave crime against the Serb people.

The memorial service was conducted by priest Marko Danojlovic, while flowers were laid by representatives of the City of Zvornik and the citizens' association "Most" Srebrenica-Skelani. President of the association and descendant of the victims, Radomir Pavlovic, told SRNA that it is necessary to remember even the horrific details of crimes committed by local Ustasha, Muslims and Croats, who gouged out eyes, slaughtered children, and collected blood in barrels, sending it to Ustasha leader Ante Pavelic in Zagreb as a birthday gift and as proof of Ustasha control over the Drina River. Recalling that these atrocities took place in August 1941 at the beginning of the Second World War, Pavlovic noted with regret that, after the communists came to power, it was forbidden to speak publicly or privately about the Serb suffering in these areas, nor to record it. According to him, the barrels filled with Serb blood must not be forgotten, as they represent the history of this region and testify to the crimes committed against Serbs by Ustasha, local Muslims and Croats, during the Second World War. Pavlovic stated that, unfortunately, crimes continued during the civil war when Muslims killed a large number of Serbs, particularly in the Podrinje region between 1992 and 1995. He stressed that the fact is often avoided that BiH was part of the NDH and that Muslims were called "Croatia's flowers" in both the First and Second World War. "The fact is that Muslims in these wars were referred to as 'Croatia's flowers' and were the executors of mass killings of the Serb people," said Pavlovic, adding that it is also a fact that BiH, under Muslim leadership, joined Pavelic's NDH at the very start of the Second World War. Priest Danojlovic stated that truth, if Serbs unite in proving it, can be voiced loudly and strongly with arguments and firm evidence, with God's blessing first and foremost. "A fact that must be put in its rightful place, and which should not offend anyone is: if you were not in the Partisans until 1945 in the Second World War, where were you?" Danojlovic asked. Pointing out that the answer is already known, he said that it should come from those to whom the question is addressed - why they 'crossed over' to the Partisans after spending the entire war in Ustasha ranks killing Serbs. According to him, the same methods were used by Muslim neighbors during the 1992–1995 war, just as their ancestors had done in the Second World War. The attendees visited locations in Drinjača and surrounding villages where Serb civilians were massacred in August 1941.