MEMORIAL ACADEMY HELD TO MARK 31ST ANNIVERSARY OF EXODUS OF SERBS FROM DONJI VAKUF

GRADIŠKA, SEPTEMBER 11 /SRNA/ - A memorial academy titled The Bloody Road of Exile - A People Who Did Not Surrender was held in Gradiška this evening to mark the 31st anniversary of the exodus of Serbs from Donji Vakuf and the crimes against civilians from the area in Bravnice near Jajce.

President of the Association of Serbs from Donji Vakuf, Davor Šandara, said that this was the second year that they had commemorated the exodus from Donji Vakuf and the unpunished crime in Bravnice near Jajce, in which 81 Serb civilians were killed, including eight children under the age of 12.

He said that, through the screening of a short documentary film, Aleksandar Kisin — From Kisin to Košare, part of the memorial academy was dedicated to a fighter from the 19th Srbobran Brigade who was killed in 1999 as a volunteer in Kosovo and Metohija during the Battle of Košare.

The academy was attended by Republika Srpska National Assembly Speaker Nenad Stevandić, Gradiška Mayor Zoran Adžić, President of the Republika Srpska Veterans' Organization Presidency Milovan Gagić, representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and numerous citizens.

Stevandić stressed that through the work of this association and the memorial academy, they are fighting against despondency and forgetting what should preserve the Serbs in an uncertain future.

He said that, by making films about their heroes and victims and staying in contact with their families, the Serbs are showing that they have not forgotten a single victim who fell for Republika Srpska or the difficult fate of people who were forced to leave their homes.

Stressing the importance of unity among its people, Stevandić said that Republika Srpska is stronger than all its enemies.

Adžić said that 31 years ago the Serbs from Donji Vakuf endured terrible suffering and were forced to leave behind everything they and their ancestors had built over centuries, adding that Gradiška provided shelter and a new home to most of them.

The Association of Serbs from Donji Vakuf posthumously awarded Aleksandar Kisin. An award was also presented to Dragan Radović, Chief of Staff of the 19th Srbobran Brigade.