STREET TO BE NAMED AFTER SINIŠA DOBRIĆ, BOY KILLED IN REFUGEE CONVOY DURING OPERATION STORM

BELGRADE, OCTOBER 20 /SRNA/ – Nova 12 Street in Sremska Kamenica will soon be renamed Siniša Dobrić Street in memory of a boy from Crveni Bok near Sisak who was killed in a refugee convoy on August 4, 1995, during the notorious Croatian military operation Storm, just short of his 12th birthday.

The initiative to preserve the memory of the boy, who was brutally killed, came from Sremska Kamenica residents, and the proposal was adopted by the local community council.

Siniša's mother, Nevenka, who lives on the street that will now bear her son's name, said that this would ensure her son lived on forever and that future generations would learn about his fate and how he died.

"Only I know what it has been like for me all these decades without my child. But you cannot bury someone alive! I would not wish anyone to experience what I have," Dobrić told Večernje Novosti.

Ljubiša Todorović, one of the signatories of the initiative to name the street after Siniša, said that he lived in the neighbourhood and knew about the Dobrić family's great tragedy. He added that the neighbours and friends wanted to help Nevenka preserve the memory of her son.

Local resident Goranka Radojčić stressed that this was the least that could have been done for the boy and his family.

"Siniša Dobrić's name will remain as a lasting reminder that no victim must be forgotten. I am a mother myself, and I can only imagine the pain Nevenka has had to live with in her heart and soul. I am sure it will be difficult for her when she looks at the street sign once it is installed, but the memory of her Siniša will live on forever," Radojčić said.

Apart from the family's closest relatives, neighbours and friends, many of their fellow residents today knew nothing about the Dobrić family's tragedy until this year's commemorative event marking Remembrance Day for the victims of the Croatian military operation Storm in Mrkonjić Grad. There, Nevenka Dobrić spoke publicly and recounted the heartbreaking fate of her son, who on August 4, 1995, joined other children from the Krajina region in a refugee convoy in an attempt to save his young life.

The boy died in the cab of a tractor alongside his grandfather, Petar, who had led the family as they fled.

This courageous mother also gave her testimony about her son's death to the Memorial Centre of Republika Srpska.