ANĐA ĐUKANOVIĆ SHARES TESTIMONY ABOUT HUSBAND MISSING SINCE CHRISTMAS OF 1993

BANJA LUKA, JULY 3 /SRNA/ – Anđa Đukanović from the village of Pobrđe near Bratunac has shared her testimony with the Republika Srpska Memorial Center about her husband, Ivan, who disappeared on Orthodox Christmas Day, January 7, 1993, during an attack by Muslim forces on Kravica, Ježeštica and surrounding Serb villages.

"I am not seeking revenge. I only wish to know where my husband is, so I can light a candle for him and have a place to visit," Đukanović said, adding that she has lived with the same unanswered question for more than three decades, as her husband's remains have never been found.

Đukanović reminded that when attacks on Serb villages around Bratunac began, she fled to Šabac with their three children, while Ivan remained in the village.

"I begged him to come with us, but he replied, `I have done nothing wrong to anyone. I'm not going anywhere. This is my home,`" she said, adding that it was the last conversation they ever had.

According to Đukanović, Ivan made one final visit to Šabac in late 1992 to see his family and bring them some belongings from their home.

"I pleaded with him to stay, but he just shook his head. He could not abandon his home, his land, and everything he had built. A few days later, he returned to Ježeštica," she said.

She added that since Ivan's disappearance, the family has never received any reliable information about his fate, despite numerous conflicting accounts over the years.

"Some said he was killed in combat, others claimed he had been captured alive and taken toward Srebrenica. None of it was ever confirmed. I only wish someone would tell me the truth. No one has to admit anything. Just show me where he is. I only want to know where his remains lie," Đukanović said.

She noted that at the time of Ivan's disappearance, their children were still very young, the oldest son was 13, the second son 12, and their daughter seven.

"I was left alone to raise three children. I had to educate them and help them build their lives. It wasn't easy, but I had no choice but to keep going," Đukanović added.

After the war, Anđa Đukanović returned to Bratunac and started over. Today, her children have families of their own, but she says there is not a day that goes by without thinking of Ivan.

"For 33 years, I have lived with the same hope. Maybe one day someone will speak. I just want to know where he rests," Đukanović said.

To mark more than three decades since the suffering of Serbs in the Middle Podrinje and Birač regions, the Republika Srpska Memorial Center will present a series of previously little-known testimonies about the wartime suffering of the Serb people in the area.

The testimonies will be published daily on the Memorial Center's digital platforms.

The central commemoration for the 3,267 Serbs killed in the Middle Podrinje and Birač regions will be held tomorrow in Bratunac under this year's slogan, "Bratunac is not a place you're invited to - it is a place you go to".