With the laying of flowers at the memorial site in Brezovaca on Mount Igman yesterday, January 31st, the marking of the 84th anniversary of the Igman March began. After the ceremony, a column of participants set off on the traditional march on foot toward Veliko Polje, where delegations laid flowers at the central memorial of the National Liberation Struggle.
Several hundred participants in the march recalled the historical significance of this event and the importance of preserving antifascist values, which, as was emphasized, are still facing numerous challenges today, not only in the region but more broadly as well.
This year, as in previous years, the symbolism of the antifascist struggle and the former Yugoslavia was not absent, including photographs of Josip Broz Tito.
The Igman March was a key military operation during the Second World War, when the First Proletarian Brigade, after being encircled by the German army on Romanija, set out on a breakthrough toward Sarajevo.
Their goal was to reach liberated Foca. The march began on January 25th, and in just two days, the fighters reached the Sarajevo Field. The greatest challenge was the ascent of Mount Igman.
The crossing of Igman took place between January 27th and 28th, 1942, under harsh conditions: deep snow and extreme cold. The march became legendary also because of 40 fighters who suffered severe frostbite and had to be transported to Foca for treatment, where they endured immense pain during the amputation of frostbitten parts of their bodies, all without the use of anesthesia.
