In the town of Garavica near Bihac, the 81st anniversary of the crimes against Serbs, Jews and Roma was marked. During the summer of 1941, more than 12,000 civilians, mostly of Serbian nationality, were killed here. The commemoration is organized more modestly, unlike previous years.
Cedo Banjac, then an eleven-year-old boy, now a 92-year-old who still remembers those crimes, survived and watched all of this.
“I remember it like today. I was running away, hiding, houses were burning, innocent people were being killed. An unfortunate incident happened to the innocent Serbian, Jewish and Roma people. Not to forget the crime. Children, women were killed, just because they had different names,” he recalls.
Unlike in previous years, Milorad Dodik, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was not present at today’s marking, nor was any representative of the RS government.
“I express my regret for the fact that such a small number of people came to such a small place, that very little is known about this, that no one from the representatives of the RS came, even though their mouths are full of Garavica,” said Milanko Mihajlica, a member of the Presidency of the PDP.
At the memorial service, there were only twenty elderly people who cherish the tradition of memory. The parish priest of Bihac, Slavisa Milinovic, points out that it is disappointing that the message of suffering is not passed on to younger generations, and that the victims of any nation are equally important.
“We must not belittle anyone’s sacrifices or contribute to them being belittled, but, unfortunately, through this kind of awareness, we see it happening and, unfortunately, we see it today in Garavici as well – a people who humiliates their victims by not coming to the memorial service today.” , said Milinovic.
The commemoration of the crime in Garavice, as in previous years, sent a clear message today: this crime must be remembered because of the innocent civilians killed.
