A memorial column and commemorative programs in Vukovar will mark the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Vukovar in 1991 and the 34th anniversary of the city's suffering in the Homeland War on Tuesday.
In the courtyard of the Vukovar National Memorial Hospital "Dr. Juraj Njavro", a commemorative program "Vukovar, a place of special patriotic piety", with the participation of the Croatian Navy Klapa "Sv. Juraj" and actor Darko Milas, will begin at 10 am.
From there, participants in the Column of Remembrance will head through the city streets to the Memorial Cemetery of the Victims of the Homeland War, where state and other delegations will lay wreaths and light candles.
This year, the Column of Remembrance will be led by the defenders of Vukovar, along with family members of the killed, missing and deceased defenders, as well as the Vukovar defenders themselves.
The arrival in Vukovar was announced by delegations from the Government and the Croatian Parliament, led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, while President of the Republic Zoran Milanović will not be attending due to health problems.
This year, young people wearing white T-shirts with the names of the fallen and missing Vukovar defenders will once again march in the Column of Remembrance.
This is the "Instead of Them" initiative of the Student Catholic Center in Osijek, which in this way wants to "restore the face, name, story and dignity" of every defender and thus show that the memory of them does not fade but lives on in new generations.
A prayer for the dead, murdered and missing at the Memorial Cemetery will be offered by the Archbishop and Metropolitan of Đakovo and Osijek, Marin Srakić, and the memorial mass, also at the cemetery, will be led by the Bishop of Šibenik, Tomislav Rogić.
In the afternoon at 5 pm, the people of Vukovar will remember all those killed and missing in the aggression against their city by releasing lights down the Danube, and at the symbolic 6:11 pm, church bells will ring from church towers in Vukovar, as well as towers throughout Croatia.
During the almost three-month siege of Vukovar in the summer and autumn of 1991, 450 defenders and 1350 civilians were killed, including 86 children. 858 children were left without one or both parents, more than 2500 people were wounded, and many were detained and taken to camps.
Of the 1740 missing and deceased persons in the Homeland War, whose remains have not yet been found, 328 are from Vukovar and 451 from the Vukovar-Srijem County.
Photo: HINA/;;Gordan Panić
