The program begins on Saturday at 8 a.m. with the lighting of candles and laying a wreath in the Danube, and Deputy Prime Ministers Davor Božinović and Ivan Anušić will attend the commemoration.
On Saturday, Dalj marks the 35th anniversary of the deaths of 39 Croatian defenders who were killed at the very beginning of the Serbian aggression while defending the Dalj Police Station. Their resistance was crucial for the defense of the residents of Aljmaš, Dalj, and Erdut, towns in the far east of Croatia, as reported by Net.hr.
The attack on the wider area of Dalj and Erdut, and the breakthrough into Dalj, was carried out on August 1, 1991, by units of the 51st Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) with associated Territorial Defense forces. According to reports, the enemy was more numerous and technically superior, advancing towards the police station with tanks and other available means.
Police officers, members of the National Guard Corps (ZNG) and Civil Protection, together with local residents of Dalj, offered strong resistance. The unequal battle lasted until a tank shell fired from the direction of the Orthodox church hit and completely destroyed the station building. Croatian defenders who were not killed by the shell were mercilessly executed.
In this tragic event, 39 Croatian defenders lost their lives. Of that number, 20 were police officers, 15 were members of the ZNG, and four were Civil Protection members. On the same day, August 1, 1991, the non-Serb population of Aljmaš, Dalj, and Erdut was transported by barge via the waterway to Osijek, after which they spent seven years in exile.
Tribute will be paid by family members, friends, fellow soldiers, and representatives of local and state authorities. As announced by the Osijek-Baranja Police Department, Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers of the Interior and Defense, Davor Božinović and Ivan Anušić, will participate in the commemoration.
The official program begins at 8 a.m. with the lighting of candles and laying a wreath in the Danube at the monument to victims of the Homeland War in Aljmaš, in memory of the displaced population. At 9 a.m., a march of war flags will start from the Dalj Cultural Center to the Dalj Border Police Station. The central commemoration in front of the station begins at 9:50 a.m. with the laying of wreaths and lighting of candles at the memorial. A requiem mass for all fallen defenders will be held at 11 a.m. at the Church of St. Joseph in Dalj.
