President Stevandic attended the commemoration for the victims of the Ustasha massacre in Darkulic

Date: 
02.02.2025 - 13:00

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, Dr Nenand Stevandic, attended today, at the commemoration ossuary, in the Banja Luka settlement Drakulic, the commemoration for  2300 Serbs who the Ustasha brutally killed in this settlement and in Motike, Sargovac, and in mine Rakovac.  

The commemoration was also attended by the President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik,, Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology, Bojan Vipotnik, Minister of Labor, Veterans' and Disabled Protection, Danijel Egic, the Mayor of Banja Luka, Drasko Stanivuovic and numerous citizens.

Wreaths and flowers were laid after the commemoration, which the priests of the Banja Luka eparchy served.

President Milorad Dodik, the President of the National Assembly, Dr Nenand Stevandic, and the Minister of Labor, Veterans' and Disabled Protection, Danijel Egic, laid wreaths on behalf of the Republic of Srpska's institutions.

On behalf of Serbia, the wreath was laid by representatives of the Consulate General of Serbia in Banja Luka, as well as a representative of the Government of Serbia.

Flowers were laid by ministers in the Government of the Republic of Srpska, members of the National Assembly, delegations of the Veterans' Organization, the Third Infantry Regiment of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Center for Research on War, War Crimes and the Search for the Missing, and the Center for Socio-Political Research.

Flowers were also laid at the Memorial Ossuary by delegations of the City of Banja Luka, non-governmental organizations originating from the Patriotic War, and the NOR.

The wreath-laying was preceded by the Holy Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Great Martyr George in the settlement of Drakulic, served by Bishop Sava.

In the early morning of February 7, 1942, the Ustashas began a massacre in the Banja Luka villages of Drakulic, Motike, Sargovac and in the Rakovac mine, where 2 315 Serbs were brutally murdered, including 551 children.

Under the command of Lieutenant Josip Mislov and Friar Vjekoslav Filipovic from the so-called "Ante Pavelic's Bodyguard", the Ustashas from Zagreb and Banja Luka killed Serbs without firing a single bullet - with axes, knives and crowbars.

The commemoration of this historical event is organized by the Republic of Srpska Government Committee for Nurturing the Tradition of Liberation Wars.