USTASHA SYMBOLS AND MESSAGES ON MONUMENT IN SERB RETURNEE VILLAGE OF BAĆEVIĆI

MOSTAR, September 8 /SRNA/ - The monument to fallen Partisan fighters and civilian victims of the Second World War in the Serb returnee village of Baćevići near Mostar was found this morning defaced with fascist symbols and the Ustasha slogan "Ready for the Homeland!" /Za dom spremni!/

Residents informed the police, who immediately came to the scene and conducted an investigation.

The monument, destroyed during the last war, was rebuilt in 2022 and is located near the community center and playground in the heart of the village, where children and young people gather.

Dušan Golo, President of the Coordination of Serbs in Mostar and a resident of Baćevići, said the locals are distressed and frightened after the incident.

"Ustasha symbols were written on the monument to the victims killed by the Ustashas. We were horrified by the sight. Imagine the shock for the children, for whom today was the first day of school in Mostar," Golo told SRNA.

He recalled that in August of last year, the monument had also been covered with Ustasha symbols and that children were attacked.

"Every month something happens in Baćevići, but people do not report it. At night, from passing cars, they shout: `No sleep tonight, Chetniks!` People are afraid to report it, they don't want tensions, but the terror doesn't stop," Golo said.

Baćevići resident Duško Savić said such acts insult the memory of the victims of fascism, spread hatred and intolerance, and undermine the dignity of the village.