Vesna Bosanac – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Croatia: Goodbye Violeta-Vicky, The Heroine Of Freedom

August 2, 2014 by inavukic 81 Comments

Tribute to Violeta Antolic – Vicky
Original photo collation by Goran D.

She was barely 21 years old when she left her three-year-old son in the care of others at the bomb shelter in Vukovar, took a rifle into her hands and went shoulder to shoulder to the front-line with her male veterans, the heroes of Croatia’s Homeland War, to defend the city from Serb aggression, beastly destruction of anyone non-Serb, of their homes, infrastructure, community and religious buildings…Violeta Antolic – Vicky defended Vukovar’s Sajmiste to the last minute, until ethnically cleansed and devastated Vukovar fell into Serb occupation (November 1991), only to end up in a Serb concentration camp – as a courageous defender she was the only woman in HOS (1991 Croatian Defence Forces arm of Croatian Party of Rights made up of volunteers from Croatia and abroad) fighting the enemy on equally strong and determined love for freedom as her male veterans. She endured all the imaginable and unimaginable horrors of war; she was a heroine the kind of which one rarely sees in battlefields only to die in a fatal car crash in Zagreb, in her free Croatia, on Tuesday 29 July 2014.
“The first line of defence was at Sajmiste, the place where I grew up and where I lived. When I arrived (to HOS local headquarters) I said that I did not want to be someone who is entrusted for First Aid, that I did not want to be nurse or a cook,” said Violeta in an interview two months ago for Oluja (Storm) magazine.
Here is some more of Violeta’s story of courage, suffering and determination for freedom:
“When they started shooting at our home from the barracks, we had to run into our neighbour’s cellar. The army started to come out of the barracks and we were not aware of this. They also started to shoot at my son, whom I was carrying in my arms. As we broke through to Olajnica my three-year-old son screamed and cried: mama, mama. The shelter was full of men and women.

I felt safer but everything in me burned with rage.

I thought: they shot at my son – I’ll strike back.

In a coincidence, the boys from HOS formation were passing by. I asked if they had a gun for me, because I had no money to buy one. They gave me a Kalashnikov. Street battles ensued that night. They captured one of ours. Sajmiste echoed from his screams. I froze then, but I decided to remain at Sajmiste. We found clean clothes in houses and brought water from the well. That’s how we kept ourselves clean. A sniper fatally hit our first commander Vladimir Derek-Sokol at that spot. We did not go out for water any more. Things were getting worse and worse. When Vukovar “fell” we withdrew from the front lines.

The stench of death was in the air; the city had collapsed under the final defence.

The Serb paramilitary and local Serbs took the few people that remained to Velepromet. After that I dressed in civilian clothes and went to get my son, and with my child was taken to Velepromet. They separated us into male and female columns. They pulled out my stepfather and beat him.

They separated me from my son; I thought I would go mad. I pleaded with them to return him to me.

They laughed and giggled at me saying that they would take him to Belgrade and place him in an orphanage. Luckily a friend of mine took my son. Soon after four men came and took me away and beat me with batons, rifles, sticks and feet. My first neighbour who drove his fist into my face first hit me. He was younger than me. Predrag Marusin-Pedja hit me after the main gendarme Nenad Zigic gave him approval for that. Pedja was a dear young man before the war. I think he was an artist. If the situation were reversed I would never let a hair fall from his scalp. Miki Ikac and another enemy man were there too.

The four of them took turns in beating me. They beat me with batons, rifles, sticks and feet. I collapsed, lost consciousness and then they dragged me into the ‘room of death’ in which they had murdered four people on the same evening. They weren’t sure if I was at the front line as I lived in Sajmiste. A Serb woman had previously seen me in uniform near the hospital and it was probably she who revealed my identity.

A man returned with his face slashed, another was forced to eat bullets, and the hands of many were tied with barbed wire.

I remember how they ridiculed and giggled when they took a young man. He said: let me just get my tennis shoes. They replied: you won’t need them where you’re going.

Ljubce Atanasov saved me from certain death. He said I should be as silent as possible. When they started to beat me again, he yelled at them. He set up guard and did not allow anyone near again. One day a real Chetnik arrived, as from a movie, ripped from a mountain, bearded … I stood before him with my face all beaten up and swollen. He took out a knife and said to me – oh, you’re so swollen, I bet your tooth aches. Come on, open your mouth so I can pull it out and it won’t hurt any more. I put my hand to my mouth and kept saying my tooth did not hurt.

After that they transferred us to a military base in Mitrovica (Serbia, concentration camp) where we waited for a prisoner of war exchange. Luckily I was in the first exchange group and came out at the same time as dr. Vesna Bosanac. My recovery time did not last long. In May, together with the 204th Vukovar Veterans Bridage I went to Suica in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When the air attack occurred I shot at the plane with anti-aircraft weapons, saying to myself that I could finally confront the plane that had shot at me when I was in Vukovar…”

Violeta Antolic – Vicky earned the rank of Sergeant Major during the war.

An amazing photo-video tribute: “Violeta Antolic –Vicky: goodbye my friend”

Violeta’s tragic death in a car accident barely attracted a few lines on back pages of mainstream print media in Croatia. No doubt, the culprits for such a shameful display are those who still sit in high positions of power, pining for communist Yugoslavia, making sure Croatia’s heroes and heroines are kept away from widespread national show of pride. Never mind – God is great! For Violeta’s funeral will come in the days of celebrating 19 years since Operation Storm (5 August 1995), which freed much of Croatian territory from Serb aggression and set the path to freedom and democracy.

I will end this post with the words of 1LT Anne (Sosh) Brehm, US Army Nurse Corps/WWII:
“Let the generations know that women in uniform also guaranteed their freedom. That our resolve was just as great as the brave men who stood among us. And with victory our hearts were just as full and beat just as fast – that the tears fell just as hard for those we left behind”.

Screenshot from movie “The Heroes of Vukovar” –
Violeta Antolic – Vicky

Rest in God’s peace, Violeta – Vicky!
Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Croatia, Croatian Defence Forces, Croatian Homeland War, ethnic cleansing, Heroes of Vukovar, HOS, Operation Storm, Sajmiste, Serb aggression, Serb concentration camps, Vesna Bosanac, Vio9leta Antolic - Vicky, Vukovar, Women War Heroes

Women Of Croatia’s Homeland War

March 8, 2014 by inavukic 62 Comments

Today, 8 March, marks the International Women’s Day! May it be a happy one to all the women of the world and as far as Croatian women are concerned my mind is turned to those who endured and survived with dignity the most horrendous of fates a woman (a human being) can endure. I turn to and bow the women that stood out and stand out as heroines of a nation (independent Croatia) created despite the brutal aggression, rape, ethnic cleansing, genocide … that swept across Croatia in the early 1990’s with only one intent: eradicate Croat lives, humiliate Croat lives … just because they are Croat and want freedom from communist totalitarian regime!

I also turn to the many Croatian women who left their stamp of truth, freedom and dedication to independence in many ways during the years of Croatia’s Homeland War and beyond.

These women of modern-day Croatia are truly inspiring!

Mothers of those who gave their lives for Croatia’s freedom

Kata Soljic (Vukovar, 1922 – 2008): Fondly called as the mother of courage.

Kata Soljic (click on photo to enlarge)

“I am Kata Soljic, a Croat, a mother from Vukovar. I am 79 years old, I gave birth to and reared six children, four sons and two daughters. My four sons and my son-in-law lost their lives in 1991 for freedom and for the defense of the Croatian Homeland from the Serb aggressor in this Homeland War. My four innocent brothers perished by the hands of the same enemy during World War II, and my husband survived by a miracle. I have not completed any schooling. I can barely sign my own name. Life has not caressed me. And, hence, I have learned and am still learning the highest of life’s lessons and that is the lesson of love and sacrifice for those close to me and for my family,” (Kata Soljic, 2001)

Women who were at the forefront of caring for the wounded

Dr Vesna Bosanac, a paediatrician and the legendary medical director of Vukovar hospital during the Croatian Homeland War.

dr Vesna Bosanac (click on photo to enlarge)

A witness to Serb atrocities in Vukovar, a witness who invested all her human strength to save as many lives as humanly possible amidst the genocidal madness of Serb aggression (including by Serb-led Yugoslav People’s Army) in Vukovar 1991 that saw incessant artillery attacks, the destruction of ambulances, the killing of hospital staff and patients, and the wounding of doctors and nurses who were helping people wounded in the shelling and the massacre of more than 200 people that took place in November 1991 at nearby Ovcara farm.

According to data from the Vukovar Hospital, 3,470 wounded people were treated in the Vukovar Hospital during the Serbian military aggression on the town, and more than 2,500 operations were performed in the hospital at the time.

Women – Victims of war crime of rape

During the Serb aggression in 1990’s Croatia violating women became an open and widespread weapon of war of aggression. Sadly this war crime of rape had been ignored for many years, perpetrators walked the streets freely and victims suffered, dying a bit day in and day out. According to a Council of Europe, more than 20,000 women were raped during the Balkan conflict, and many of these occurred in Croatia, while others to the majority occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the victims being Bosniak (Muslim) and Croat women. Unfortunately, the horrors did not stop at rape. Of these women, most were gang-raped by Serb rebels or Serbs belonging to the Serb-led Yugoslav People’s Army, some were forced into sexual slavery and forced impregnated often by armies and paramilitary groups.

The silence regarding the widespread rape of Croat women during the war in Croatia lasted too long and some organisations claimed that rape did not occur. Marija Sliskovic has in the past few years courageously begun to point to the problem of war rape with her book “Women of Vukovar” (Žene Vukovara) and in her latest “Sunny” (Sunčica) in which she published testimonies of 14 raped women from Vukovar and one man. These efforts have received support from the Parliament, the President’s Office, and the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and other UN organisations. A rise in social compassion for the victims is evident, alongside a growing frustration that so much time that has passed without tangible remedies. The war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina brought the issue of rape to the forefront forcing international recognition of rape as a weapon of war and a violation on a multitude of levels. Despite this awareness and support the practice of ignoring rape or treating it as a last priority for prosecutors of war crimes still continues. The victims are still forced into fighting for justice at all levels and my admiration goes to them in endless bounds.
And so I pay tribute here to Marija Sliskovic, a tireless activist for the rights of rape victims in Croatia and some of the women who have had the courage to finally speak out about the horror of rape, that war crime perpetrated against them in the concentration camp during the war by Serbs:

Marija Sliskovic (click on photo to enlarge)

Ruzica Erdelji (click on photo to enlarge)

Snjezana Maljak (click on photo to enlarge)

Women who cared about the well-being of war-orphaned children

Ankica Tudjman (click on photo to enlarge)

Ankica Tudjman. The wife of Croatia’s first president, dr Franjo Tudjman, who from December 1991 championed the worldwide charitable action under the organisation “Save the Children of Croatia” (later re-named into Humanitarian Foundation for Children of Croatia) that sought sponsors for Croatian war-orphaned children. By December 1992 the action secured sponsorship (annual/monthly financial support via individual bank accounts set up for each orphan) for 2,160 children of killed Croatian Homeland War veterans. By 1996 the action had 4,319 children of killed veterans under its sponsorship program in addition to hundreds of children of 100% war-invalids. Her charity still goes strong today as she in her advanced age holds tight to her determination to help children in need for as long as she lives. I wish Ankica a very special day on this day of March the 8th!

23,080 Croat women who actively participated in the Homeland War, assisting in the defence against aggression

Croat women in Homeland War (click photo to enlarge)

Many Croat women who worked tirelessly from the diaspora on humanitarian aid to Croatia and lobbying the world for Croatia’s independence

Croatian women rally against aggression
in Croatia – Sydney, Australia January 1993 (click photo to enlarge)

Many women who worked as humanitarian aid workers caring for over 800,000 (Croat and Muslim) refugees in Croatia during the war under often dire, always treacherous and difficult circumstances.

1992 Croatia – Croat and Muslim refugees (click photo to enlarge)

November 1991 Croat refugees (click photo to enlarge)

Women who followed a career path that would enhance the path to Croatia’s democracy of tomorrow

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (click photo to enlarge)

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic commenced her career for Croatia in wartime 1993 at the ministry of science and technology, then moved to foreign affairs office and was deputy minister then head of North America unit from where she went to Canada at the Croatian Embassy as adviser and minster adviser. In 2003 she was elected into the Croatian Parliament when she became Croatia’s minister of foreign affairs and European integration until 2008. From then until 2011 she was the Croatian Ambassador in Washington and from July 2011 the assistant secretary general of NATO for public diplomacy – I trust that Kolinda will be the first woman president of Croatia very soon, Certainly her career path and world diplomacy experience has provided just the right background to lead the modern Croatia into a full democracy. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

Vukovar: Divided By An Alphabet

November 11, 2013 by inavukic 10 Comments

Video by Reporter – Euronews: well worth watching!

Article from Euronews:

“It stems from a law to protect Serb minority rights, but in the Croatian city of Vukovar, the introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet on public signs has reopened the wounds of an old conflict.

Vukovar was virtually destroyed during the wars that erupted after the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991. Today, it is being rebuilt but remains a symbol of Croatia’s fight for independence – a fight better known as the Homeland War. Now, a new kind of symbol is causing an uproar: that of Cyrillic signs erected on public buildings.

A 2011 census has shown that Serbs make up over a third of Vukovar’s population. According to Croatia’s constitutional law on minority rights, their language and alphabet is protected. The first Cyrillic signs went up in September, but they were torn down just as quickly by Croatian war veterans. Protesters argue that Cyrillic is a reminder of when Vukovar stood alone against a Yugoslav army unhappy with Croatia’s declaration of independence. And they paid the price.

A war veteran, Danijel Rehak heads the Association for Croatian Prisoners of War. He took part in the recent protests:

“We are against the Serbian language and Cyrillic signs because the aggression on Vukovar in 1991 was committed with those letters. 5,000 of our fellow citizens vanished in that aggression: defenders, civilians, children and the elderly, 401 are still listed as missing,” he told euronews.

In August 1991, the Yugoslav army and local Serb milita groups attacked Vukovar after Croatia declared independence. The siege lasted three months and Vukovar was integrated into the Serb Republic of Krajina for the next four years. One of the most horrific stories of this war was the massacre of many patients and staff at Vukovar hospital.

Vesna Bosanac was in charge of the hospital during the siege. She took care of the wounded. Today, this national icon claims that successive Croatian governments have failed to understand the emotional hold Vukovar still has on the nation’s soul. She explains: “When we came back here after the peace accord in 1997 it was all in Cyrillic. And then the process of peaceful reintegration began and everything that was in Cyrillic was no longer valid. And now, because of the census conducted in 2011, Cyrillic signs have been erected on official buildings again. Cyrillic wouldn’t be a problem if people here had healed their wounds, if they had found their dead and missing, but they haven’t, and inflicting Cyrillic is like pouring alcohol on an open wound.”

Today, the hospital basement is a museum which serves as a reminder of the suffering that took place in Vukovar and how many people felt forgotten and even sacrificed by a government fighting their nationalist wars. Although Croatia is an EU member state, people still argue that Vukovar is being used for political gain.

Meanwhile, the Zagreb government claim the constitutional laws protecting the Cyrillic alphabet were necessary to fall in line with EU legislation on minority rights.

Fred Matic, Croatian Minister of War Veterans, told euronews a key ingredient is still missing for a lasting peace:

“The Serbs have not undergone the catharsis of accepting what happened with the former Yugoslav People’s Army, with Serbia and Montenegro who committed aggression against Croatia. They simply still haven’t come to terms with it. There is also a partial responsibility on the shoulders of Croatia, but Croats won’t take responsibility until Serbs take the blame for what they did from the beginning,” he said.

Many in Vukovar are not ready to accept responsibility for the past and move forward together. The time is not ripe for this healing. These feelings run deep into the heart of Vukovar’s school system. Croatian and Serb children arrive at school together. Then they go their separate ways: Croatians into one class and Serbs into another.

Serb students learn both Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. They also learn Serbian history as part of the peace accord to help Serbs keep their national identity. Zeljko Kovacevic, the school’s principal, is an ethnic Serb. He lived in Vukovar throughout the siege and is well-respected by both communities. He told euronews that it’s the adults who block integration, not the children:

“Politics define the rules of the game and people stick to them. There is no work so people clutch at straws and don’t think independently. It irritates me when educated people don’t think things through. If they did, the city would come back to life, with lots of new ideas, better schools and children finally learning together.”

Critics of Vukovar’s school system argue that despite the so-called corridor comradery outside of class, segregated schools offer little hope of Vukovar moving on from on its past. But for many parents, the problem is explaining the history to their children.

While opponents to the Cyrllic signs are calling for Vukovar to be exempt from this minority law, there is fear on both sides that Vukovar will remain divided by its past”.