FOLLOW THE PATH OUR ANCESTORS PAVED, FROM SAINT SAVA TO GENERAL DRAŽA

VIŠEGRAD, MARCH 13 /SRNA/ - It was stated today in Višegrad, at the commemoration of the Day of Remembrance of the arrest of Draža Mihailović, that the path the Serbian people should follow was paved by their ancestors, from Saint Sava to General Draža, and that the Church has always accompanied its spiritual children.

The Minister of Labor, War Veterans’ and Disabled Persons' Protection of Republika Srpska, Radan Ostojić, said it was a privilege to be at this place today, where they gathered as brothers to pray to God for the soul of the immortal General Draža and all members of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland who perished for the Holy Cross and golden freedom.

"After many years, we have finally lived to see the Ravna Gora movement rehabilitated, but that has remained only a formality, while we who are here represent the essence," Ostojić said.

He stressed that it is not good when people learn their lesson from their own mistakes, but pointed out that it is important that those mistakes are not repeated.

He also emphasized that the Serbian people have won many victories in uprisings and wars, with enormous sacrifices that, in the last century alone, are measured in the millions.

Speaking at the gathering in Višegrad, he said that it was one of the most dignified gatherings he had ever attended.

"Not a single message of hatred was sent from here. We came to the church to pray to God, to listen to messages of love, goodness, and peace," Ostojić noted.

He reiterated that the Serbian people need peace, but that they should also dream of Serbs living in one state.

The president of the Ravna Gora Movement of Republika Srpska, Dušan Sladojević, said that this is a historic moment from which many paths lead, but that our path was paved by our ancestors, from Saint Sava to Čiča Draža /Draža Mihailović/.

"And we should not make a mistake this time," Sladojević said.

Monk Jovan Gardović said that the Church is the mother of all and has always accompanied its spiritual children, and that Čiča Draža held firmly to Christ.

"God is the God of all, that is how Draža thought. Going into the unknown, he did not know what the next day would bring, but he had Christ," said Monk Gavrilo.

He stated that those who went with Draža and gave their lives are now in heaven, and that God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

"Čiča Draža was educated not only militarily but also spiritually; he lived honorably and died honorably, and today we do not forget him. We pray to God for him, because he was a great figure, and only God knows how heavy the burden of his cross was," said Monk Jovan.

Historian Salih Selimović said that Draža Mihailović was a great victim, and that everything against him was propaganda, inhuman, and untrue.

"If he was a collaborator, a traitor, how is it that several operations were conducted against him to capture him dead or alive? Then a warrant was issued for him, and a bounty was placed on his head. He had a bounty on him even before Tito," Selimović said.

He emphasized that the Ravna Gora movement and General Mihailović himself were anti-fascists, and that it is a great injustice to attribute to people something that is not true.

"The first operations conducted during the Second World War were led by Draža Mihailović, who at that time was a colonel. Near Olovo in eastern Bosnia, he had his first clash with the Ustashe, long before the Communist Party officially proclaimed those days as the uprising against the occupiers," Selimović said.

He noted that Čiča Draža, in an address to regional commanders, ordered that they must maintain the best possible relations with Muslims, adding that a number of them had been misled and joined the Ustashe.

Wreaths were laid at the monument to fallen soldiers of Republika Srpska at the Square of Fallen Fighters in Višegrad today, and a memorial service was held for Draža Mihailović and his companions at the Monastery of St. Nicholas in Dobrunjska Rijeka – Draževina.

Wreaths were laid by representatives of the Government of Republika Srpska and the Ravna Gora Movement.

The commemoration of the Day of Remembrance of the arrest of General Draža was attended by a large number of supporters of the Ravna Gora movement.

The High Court in Belgrade rehabilitated Draža Mihailović on May 14, 2015, restoring the civil rights that had been taken from him in the political-ideological trial conducted by the communist regime in 1946.

The court annulled the verdict under which Mihailović had been sentenced to death on July 15, 1946, and executed by firing squad two days later.

On May 29, 1948, the U.S. President Harry Truman posthumously awarded Draža Mihailović with the Legion of Merit of the first degree, the highest Allied recognition.

The general of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland was also decorated by Charles de Gaulle, the French general, and by Władysław Sikorski of Poland.