WREATH LAID ON UNA RIVER FROM BRIDGE OF SALVATION

NOVI GRAD, AUGUST 6 /SRNA/ - A wreath was lowered into the Una River from the Bridge of Salvation, between Dvor and Novi Grad, in remembrance of the Serbs who were killed in the Croatian criminal operation Storm.

The wreath was lowered by the Director of the Documentation and Information Centre Veritas Savo Štrbac and the Mayor of Novi Grad, Miroslav Drljača. Štrbac said that in August 1995, 100,000 displaced Serbs crossed the bridge over the Una River from the former Republic of Serbian Krajina into Novi Grad. "After crossing the bridge, they thought they were safe, that they were saving their lives. But that was not the case; they were hit with artillery shells across the Una River and bombed from aircraft. Today we remember those who suffered, and we must talk about it and leave a record," Štrbac emphasised. Štrbac said he was pleased that a parish house was being built in the yard of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, which would in part also be dedicated to the Krajina victims. "Veritas will assist. We advocate a culture of remembrance, so that through documents, testimonies, films and memorials we preserve the truth," he said. Štrbac said that the Veritas records contain the names of 1,904 Serbs who were killed or went missing during and after the Storm operation, including 1,250 civilians, around three-quarters of whom were over the age of 60. Among the victims were also ten children under the age of 14 and 566 women. He also pointed out that 612 people are still listed in the records of missing persons. Drljača said that the bridge over the Una River had, since 1577, connected people, enabled social gatherings and fostered cooperation. "Since 1995, this has no longer been a place for gathering, because in August 1995 things were done that have nothing to do with humanity or with normal relations between people," he said. Drljača said that the developments in the former Republic of Serbian Krajina had the expected outcome and that the Storm operation had been planned for a long time. "The international community took part in concealing Croatia's true intentions, and there is no need to elaborate on NATO's involvement. During the Storm operation, Croatia had more soldiers than the Republic of Serbian Krajina had inhabitants. The Serbs had no chance of defending themselves," Drljača emphasised. He pointed out that the consequences of those events cannot be undone, but that the truth about the suffering of Serbs must be preserved. "Unfortunately, August is marked from the first to the last day by commemorations of the anniversaries of the suffering of Serbs in the Second World War and in the recent war," he said. Drljača added that, according to the 1931 census, neighbouring Dvor in Croatia had a population of 26,500. "Where did all those people go? What they started in 1941, they completed in 1995. We must never allow this to happen to us again," Drljača said. The commemoration marking 31 years since the exodus of Serbs from the former Republic of Serbian Krajina during the Storm operation began in Novi Grad with a memorial service at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. After the memorial service, candles were lit along the main road towards the border crossing, and a wreath was lowered from the bridge. A memorial service will be held today at the Memorial Cross in Svodna near Novi Grad, where Croatian aviation targeted a refugee convoy in August 1995. The military-police operation Storm began on August 4, 1995, with an offensive by the Croatian Army and police, as well as HVO units, in the areas of Banija, Lika, Kordun and northern Dalmatia. The following day, August 5, the Croatian Army entered the largely abandoned Knin and raised the Croatian flag, while convoys of refugees moved through Serb-held territories in BiH towards Serbia.