MILJA ZEČEVIĆ LAID TO REST IN GORNJI SMRTIĆI - SYMBOL OF SERB MOTHER’S SUFFERING AND STRENGTH

PRNJAVOR/BROD, NOVEMBER 9 /SRNA/ – Heroine Milja Zečević, who lost her husband and three sons in the crime against the Serb population in Sijekovac on March 26, 1992, was laid to rest today in Gornji Smrtići, near Prnjavor, who through the dignity with which she bore her lifelong grief, became a symbol of the suffering and strength of a Serb mother.

In addition to family members and friends, those attending the funeral included President Milorad Dodik, Republika Srpska Interior Minister Željko Budimir, Prnjavor Mayor Darko Tomaš, Brod Municipality Mayor Milan Zečević, as well as numerous citizens from across Republika Srpska.

As of today, Milja Zečević rests in the cemetery where the remains of her sons and husband are buried.

The memorial service was previously held at the town cemetery in Brod by Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Radojica Ćetković, Episcopal Deputy to the Zvornik - Tuzla Metropolitan, assisted by local clergy.

Director of the Republika Srpska Memorial Centre Denis Bojić said, in his farewell address to Milja, that her life had been marked by two great tragedies associated with sites of mass suffering of the Serb people – Jasenovac and Sijekovac.

Bojić recalled that Milja lost her father as a young girl when he was killed in Jasenovac, and that almost half a century later, on March 26, 1992, her husband Jovo and three sons, Milan, Petar and Vaso, were killed in Sijekovac.

"Thus, a terrible historical circle was completed in her life – Jasenovac and Sijekovac, two sites of mass suffering from different historical periods, became intertwined in the fate of one woman," Bojić stressed.

He pointed to the importance of preserving Milja's testimony, describing it as a valuable historical document and part of the nation’s collective memory, which will enable future generations to learn the truth about the suffering of the Serb people in Sijekovac.

Bojić said that it was the duty of the Serb people to preserve her name, her testimony and the memory of her family members who were killed, and to pass on the truth about Sijekovac from generation to generation.

Brod Mayor Milan Zečević stressed that, despite an unimaginable family tragedy, Milja had become a symbol of the suffering and strength of a Serb mother through her dignity and the way she bore her lifelong grief.

"Family will not take it amiss if I say that Milja belongs to all of us, that Milja belongs to the entire Serb people," Zečević said.