MEMORIAL SERVICE HELD FOR 405 SERB CIVILIANS

DERVENTA, AUGUST 27 /SRNA/ - A memorial service was held in the Memorial Park in Bosanski Lužani near Derventa for 405 Serb civilians from Bosanski and Novi Lužani, Kostreš, and Barica, who were killed by the Ustasha in 1941.

Boiled wheat and the slava cake were consecrated, and the Mayor of Derventa, Igor Žunić, stated that the crime against Serb civilians must not be forgotten.

"405 Serbs perished here; people were taken away, ended up in a camp, and then who knows where, never returning to their homes. Four villages were practically destroyed, and today we stand here and make a vow that they will never be forgotten," said Žunić.

He emphasized that it is the obligation of current generations to remember and pass on the truth about the suffering.

"Our task is to pass on what happened in 1941 to our children and grandchildren, not so that anyone would hate anyone, but to forgive, yet never forget this so that it does not happen to us again," said Žunić.

Žunić stated that his generation was not sufficiently informed about the suffering of the Serb people.

"I often say that I am sometimes ashamed of my teachers and the people who were supposed to teach us about what happened here. My generation did not know about this, just as it did not know about many other events regarding the suffering of the Serbian people. It was somehow hidden from us, and it is our obligation to preserve and pass on that truth, because only this way will we save these people from oblivion," said Žunić.

The President of the City Organization of SUBNOR Derventa Borislav Preradović pointed out during yesterday's memorial service that this is one of the greatest crimes to occur in this region.

"It is incomprehensible that in just one day, 405 people were taken away and subsequently killed," said Preradović.