COLLECTING TESTIMONIES FROM SERB VICTIMS FROM THE TREBINJE AREA

TREBINJE, AUGUST 24 /SRNA/ - A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed today between the Memorial Centre of Republika Srpska and the City of Trebinje, providing for the systematic collection of testimonies from the families of fallen and missing soldiers and civilians, as well as from other participants and witnesses of wartime events in the Trebinje area and surrounding region.

The Memorandum was signed by Memorial Centre Director Denis Bojić and Mayor Mirko Ćurić, the public institution said in a statement.

The first testimonies have been recorded at the Memorial Room in Trebinje, with Ana Živak, the mother of fallen Republika Srpska Army soldier Tomislav, and Snežan Redžo, the son of a fallen soldier, giving their accounts for the audiovisual archive of the Memorial Centre of Republika Srpska.

Bojić said the aim was to record all available testimonies about the suffering of the Serb people, stressing that every word spoken by a person whose fate bears witness to a particular period is a valuable historical record.

He said that the Memorial Centre of Republika Srpska has so far recorded and collected more than 1,600 testimonies about the suffering of the Serb people, which form part of its audiovisual archive.

“Our priority is the parents of our fallen soldiers and missing civilians. In the coming period, we want to encourage all family members to give their testimony, while it is our responsibility to preserve those testimonies,” Bojić said.

He also recalled the Memorial Centre’s international campaign, “Learn About the Suffering of the Serb People,” which aims to ensure that testimonies about the suffering of the Serb people receive the international attention they deserve.

Ćurić stressed the importance of joint efforts to preserve the culture of remembrance and called on the families of fallen soldiers, as well as all other citizens who have important testimonies, to take part in the process.

He reminded that a large number of families in Trebinje lost loved ones during the Defensive-Patriotic War, adding that their testimonies should be preserved as part of the historical record.

Isidora Graorac, president of the Republika Srpska Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians, said that according to the information available to her, there are 258 families of fallen soldiers in the Trebinje area.

She stressed the importance of not only the families of fallen soldiers, but also civilians and all others who witnessed or participated in wartime events, sharing their testimonies.

As part of the cooperation, a team has already been formed to collect information about the families of those who were killed, contact the families, and organize the recording of their testimonies.

The recording of testimonies at the Memorial Room in Trebinje will continue, and the Memorial Centre and the City of Trebinje are calling on the families of fallen and missing persons to take part and share their testimonies.

President of the Trebinje Veterans’ Organization Pero Milošević also attended the signing of the Memorandum and the recording of the testimonies.