The 78th anniversary of the Battle of Sutjeska, one of the most significant battles in the Second World War, was marked yesterday in the Valley of Heroes in Tjentiste.
This ceremony was organized by the Alliance of Anti-Fascists and Fighters of the People’s Liberation War, while numerous delegations from the former Yugoslavia, except the Association from the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, laid wreaths and flowers at the memorial ossuary in Tjentiste, which contains the remains of 3.301 participants of the famous Battle of Sutjeska.
A delegation of Gorazde anti-fascists also laid flowers.
“Every year we come to the Valley of Heroes, to mark the legendary Battle of Sutjeska when partisan units that were led by Commander-in-Chief Josip Broz Tito managed to break through the ring during German Operation Schwartz and inflicted heavy losses to the enemy. We would like to mention that we are not here just because of what happened 78 years ago, but also tocontinue the tradition of that spirit and anti-fascism that we need in the future, ” told Edib Cuplov, a member of the Alliance of Anti-Fascists from Gorazde.
The battle of Sutjeska took place from May 15 to June 16th, 1943. About 120.000 soldiers participated in Operation Schwartz, holding five times weaker partisan units in the ring. After the ring was broken, the majority of the forces of the People’s Liberation Army moved to the free territory.
This time as well, the Alliances in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are separately marking the anniversary of the battle in which partisan units from the entire former Yugoslavia took part, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
