Serbia Erects Memorial Complex for Over 8,000 Fallen Serbs
Construction begins in Banstol near Sremski Karlovci on a memorial complex bearing the names of Serbs killed, perished, or missing from present-day Croatia.
Construction begins in Banstol near Sremski Karlovci on a memorial complex bearing the names of Serbs killed, perished, or missing from present-day Croatia.
In the settlement of Banstol near Sremski Karlovci, construction began on Monday on a memorial complex dedicated to all Serbs killed, perished, or missing from the territory of present-day Croatia. The news was announced by Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, Minister of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs and President of the Government's Committee for Preserving the Traditions of Liberation Wars.
She emphasized that the uniqueness of this memorial complex lies in the fact that, for the first time, the names of more than 8,000 killed, perished, and missing Serbs from the territory of the present-day Republic of Croatia will be inscribed in one place. "This will not be just a list of victims, but a testament that these people lived, loved, raised their families, and had their homes. As long as their names are carved in stone, they will never be erased from the memory of the Serbian people," the minister said, as reported by her office.
In Banja Luka, after laying wreaths at the Monument to Fallen Fighters in the Defence and Homeland War of Republika Srpska, Đurđević Stamenkovski stressed that Banstol has for decades been a gathering place for Krajišniks. She noted that with the construction of the memorial complex, this place will become a permanent site of national remembrance.
"The state has an obligation to remember when time threatens to erase memories. Not so that we live in the past, but because a people that loses its memory of its victims loses a part of itself. Remembering is not a burden, but a debt to those who are no longer with us and a vow to generations to come," the minister said.
The occasion for the start of the works is the day when Serbia remembers those who perished in the military-police operation "Storm." "When August comes, every Serb remembers the columns, the homeland left behind, and thousands of families who lost their homes overnight. The Storm was a pogrom and a living wound that is not measured in years, but in memories that have never stopped hurting," said Đurđević Stamenkovski.
The minister concluded that with the construction of this complex, Serbia will fulfill its debt to all those who suffered, and Banstol will become a place where future generations will preserve the memory of innocent victims and the truth about their suffering.
