Hundreds of anti-fascists from all parts of the former SFR Yugoslavia arrived today in the Valley of Heroes in Tjentište, in order to attend the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Sutjeska, one of the most significant battles from the Second World War. Representatives of numerous anti-fascist associations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Serbia, and numerous cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region laid flowers at the memorial – an ossuary with the remains of 3,301, out of a total of more than 7,500 partisans who died in the vicinity of Tjentište.
Among the fallen participants of the battle, the majority were Dalmatians, recalls Lenjin Puharić from the Association of Anti-Fascist Fighters of Makarska.
“The entire Makar region respects that. You see, according to our monument in the Makarska Riviera, all the monuments have been restored and people live for these cases. We cannot forget Sutjeska, she is in our hearts. It is the struggle that created Yugoslavia, and today’s our country, Croatia, because the fighters died indisputably and gave themselves, their blood, so that we would be better off,” said Puharić.
“We do not make any distinctions here. Here we are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it’s really great for us to be here. We had a full bus, 50 people, and it is an honor for us to attend such a big event that reminds us of those terrible and heroic days during the war in that area,” said Franc Franko from Slovenia.
At the foot of the imposing monument, built in 1971, an appropriate cultural and artistic program was organized, with speeches by representatives of SABNOR from the entire region. The president of the Alliance of Anti-Fascists and NOR Fighters of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sead Đulić, reminds us of the circumstances of the battle and the unequal relationship between the Partisan fighters, who nevertheless managed to break through the enemy ring and win.
“Then what can be an obstacle for us, well-fed, well-dressed and with a strong desire to be inspired by the victims of 1943, the idea that they carried and to go for our victories. I think, looking at how many of us are here and how many of us are at all the gatherings that have been getting more and more massive lately, and the good thing is that more and more young people – there is hope! These peoples do not hate each other, these peoples have learned to live together, they have the same overall, and especially anti-fascist, heritage that brought us together here. It just needs to be made visible”, emphasized Đulić.
The Battle of Sutjeska was fought from May 15 to June 16, 1943. More than 120,000 soldiers of the Axis Powers surrounded five times weaker partisan units. Complete destruction, as the goal of operation “Schwarz”, did not succeed, because after the breakthrough of the ring, the main forces of the People’s Liberation Army broke through to the free territory.
