The Gingerbread Heart Still Awaits a Name: Karmela Vukov Colić Seeks Its Guardian
The former HRT war correspondent shared an emotional story on Victory Day about a promise made over 30 years ago.
The former HRT war correspondent shared an emotional story on Victory Day about a promise made over 30 years ago.
On Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders, August 7, 2026, former HRT anchor and war correspondent Karmela Vukov Colić posted a touching message on social media. Alongside photographs she has carefully preserved for over three decades, she recalled the people and moments from the Homeland War, as well as one unfulfilled promise.
Karmela shared rarely seen photographs from the war period with her followers, when she herself, as a young reporter, reported from the front lines. "I have albums that I've kept for over 30 years. Inside are photographs that remember even when we forget. In them, side by side, are children and admirals, plains and hilltops, the living and the dead... Time frozen... the past recorded," she wrote in a post shared by Dnevno.hr.
She admits that her memories of many people in those photographs are now fragmented. "I don't know much about most of the people in these albums... I remember some names, some remind me of an anecdote, of a meal on the front line seasoned with rancid oil, of a dash for cover, of a promise made long ago..." she recalled.
A particularly emotional story is tied to a photograph of a Croatian defender. He, as she recounted, affectionately called her "My Little Apple" and confided his personal story to her. Moved by his sincerity, Karmela made him a promise.
"I will remember the gentleman in the last photograph for a long time. Calling me 'My Little Apple,' he told me his story, and I promised that once things calmed down, I would send him a gingerbread heart from Zagreb. He told me he had once gifted one to his beloved..." revealed Karmela Vukov Colić.
However, the wartime years have passed, and the promise remains unfulfilled. "The gingerbread heart still awaits the name and address of its recipient..." she wrote, hinting that she hopes someone might recognize the man in the photograph and help her finally send him this symbolic gift from Zagreb.
Karmela concluded her message by thanking all Croatian defenders, emphasizing that she remembers them with special gratitude every year on this day. "These are people I visit once a year. To greet them, to thank them. To let them know I haven't forgotten. Today is that day..." she wrote.
