In Veljun, Blood has been Spilled in Vain?

It's been ten days since the incident, but the tension in the Slunj hills is still high. Serb returnees form Veljun and nearby villages organized a commemoration for 520 victims of fascism. A group of Croats did not like that. A Police intervention possibly prevented a bloody incident.

by Davor TOLJ

Slobodna Dalmacija, Split, Croatia, May 16, 2000

"My son, these are poor people, both Serbs and Croats. Extremists always abuse and incite the poor and throw them at each other's throat like rabid dogs... That is why misfortune happens."

We are listening to Stanka Dudukovic from the village of Veljun, near Slunj. Kordun [region] is in bloom. We are in mid May, the mountains are green again, shimmering in numerous shades of green. Meadows, hills, valleys, forests, all beckon to a man. The clear Korana River peacefully flows. Life could be good here, if only devil kept away.

It's been ten days since the incident, but the tension in the hills around Slunj is still high. While they are calm, people are prepared to be open minded, but when blood starts boiling, it brings up memories and memories are not nice. Kordun is truly covered by graves.

Elements of Madness

Let us recall the events from ten days ago. Serb returnees from Veljun and nearby villages organized a commemoration for 520 victims of fascism, slaughtered in May 1941. They have recently rebuilt the monument and gathered next to it, for the first time after the operation "Storm".

A group of Croats did not like that Serb gathering, so that they prevented the holding of the commemoration. A Police intervention possibly prevented a bloody incident. The incident was marked by a shameful outburst of Biserka Legradic, who settled in Veljun a few years ago. She pulled down her trousers and in front of everyone present urinated on the monument. Witnesses stated that later she said that in her country she could piss wherever she liked.

The incident had all the elements of passionate madness: two groups of opposing convictions, Police, placards, shouts, curses, threats and a lot of adrenaline in blood. It makes sense to ask why all of that happened.

"They celebrated a Chetnik [Serb royalist guerrillas in WWII; committed crimes against Croats and Bosnian Muslims] uprising. They were not commemorating victims of fascism. Serbs want to establish some sort of their cantons in Croatia and threaten us by saying that we Croats are here only temporarily. Only four elderly grannies remained in Veljun after the 'Storm', and today there are already 400 returnees in the village. Some of them are proven enemies of our state," believes Vladimir Legradic, a defender of Croatia and Biserka's husband.

There were several motives for the action "monument", and the history goes back 60 years. According to Dragan Hazler, the president of the Slunj branch of Croatian Domobran [armed forces of the Croat puppet pro-Nazi state in WWII], the key of the problem is in the date chosen for the commemoration for the Veljun victims.

"Serbs gathered on May 6, on the Serb Orthodox holiday St. George's day, but we know that the victims were slain on May 9, 1941. Furthermore, on the eve of St. George's day fifty nine years ago, Chetniks slaughtered several members of the Mravunac family. Only a minor, Milka Mravunac, survived and she is still alive," says Hazler.

According to him, Serbs from Kordun are not loyal to Croatia, they are nationalists and serve to Serbia as a fifth column. They celebrate their Chetniks and the Kosovo myth. Croats are bitter. The inhabitants of Slunj claim that the original plaque on the monument in Veljun was written in Latin script and had anti-fascist marks. At the same spot, early in the Homeland War, Chetniks set up a bunker and shot and killed Croats.

"Our Tribe Will Survive"

The monument was recently rebuilt. A mast with a Croatian flag was placed next to it. The new plaque is written in the Cyrillic script and the text has also been changed. For example, Hazler is horrified by the verses from the Serb epic poem "Brothers Jugovic's Mother": "Even if the cranes are gone, their offspring remains. We shall feed our offspring, our tribe will survive, our homes will not be abandoned".

Not all Serbs from Veljun are prepared to speak in public about the local events. They say that they would gladly talk about everything, but they are afraid. They are afraid of a handful of extremists among the Croats, who have settled in Veljun and occupied other people's property. They mention Tomislav Turek as an example. He keeps a restaurant and three Serb houses. He has severely beaten up the real owner and his son when they came to discuss the property. Allegedly a whole slew of charges against Turek exists, but nothing has been done about them so far.

"Some of them are trouble, but most Croats do not bother us. If we knew what was going to happen, we would not have even touched the monument. It would be better if they totally demolished it during the war and buried it, so that we didn't even know where it was. We just wanted to pay our respects to 520 slain persons and nothing else," says a Serb and tells us his name and surname but requests to remain anonymous.

The returnees claim that commemorations have always been held in Veljun on May 6, since the massacre took place on that day in 1941. May 6 was the official day of the local commune and the local school, and the local soccer club was also named May 6. Serbs claim that the whole story has nothing to do with the celebration of St. George's day, and emphasize that the original plaque was also written in the Cyrillic script.

Now, say the Serbs, the situation is absurd. The Police guard the monument non-stop, and if the policemen have to guard every monument in the country, then we are in trouble. The inhabitants of Veljun do not understand why the same people provoke an incident on one day and then the following day show up to place a wreath.

The Police check on the local Serbs and inquires whether there are any problems, but Serbs do not trust the Police. Why? Because, they say, the same policemen eat, drink and make plans every day with the extremists.

I ask them whether they have the support of Serb politicians from Croatia, for example Milorad Pupovac or Milan Djukic, and whether they have visited Veljun?

"What politicians, what Pupovac? He was the first one to run away once it got dangerous. He came in a new car and left, and we stayed behind. We are supposed to continue to live in Veljun. If we did not recognize Croatia we would not have come back to Veljun. We must keep quiet and bear this," they respond, demanding to remain anonymous in order to avoid any future problems.

Encouraged Serbs

Local Croats, especially victims and witnesses of wartime events, find it especially hard to accept the fact that all Serbs have the right to return, that they have the same rights as all the other citizens of Croatia, that they will speak their language and use their alphabet. Croats from Kordun still cannot reconcile themselves with the fact that Serbs who used to wear someone else's uniform will tomorrow live freely in their neighborhood, and only those for whom it is proven that they have committed crimes will be punished.

Croats claim that Serb returnees are encouraged by the change of authorities in Croatia and that that is why the local Serbs in Veljun have rebuilt the monument and organized a commemoration this year on St. George's day. Our interlocutors claim that elderly returnees are simply checking the situation on behalf of the younger ones who participated in the war and today live in Serbia.

"Why am I to suffer because of thieves who stole and did crimes? May God punish me if I hurt a single Croat. And God will punish evil people both among the Serbs and Croats. My nine children are in this grave. I took flowers to their grave and extremists greeted me with curses and insults. I was saved by the Police," elderly woman Stana Mrkalj says quietly.

The local inhabitants say that Croat extremists put together a fake flier and distributed it as if it were a Serb flier. The flier stated that all Serbs were invited to the commemoration in Veljun on St. George's day in honor of Chetniks died between 1941 and 1945 as well as patriots slain in the war between 1991 and 1995. The goal was to provoke anger among Croats.

"Extremists are organized and sent here with the goal of stopping and preventing the return, but the hatred of Serbs also plays a role," says Mileta Stipic, a Serb, a defender of Croatia and a war veteran, while his uncle Dusan Stipic adds that every citizen of Croatia must have been hurt by the scene of urination on the monument for the victims of fascism.

Divisions in Soccer As Well

Mileta finally admits that he is sorry that teams form Croat villages and Slunj were not invited to the recent soccer tournament, so that the games were played among Serbs only.

May is going by and everywhere you look, everything is green. A lot of clear water will flow in the Korana River until tolerance takes root in Kordun. Next year is the 60th anniversary of the massacre in Veljun and everyone is waiting to find out whether the commemoration will take place and on which day it will be held.

Storm Without Fire

There are a few brave souls in Veljun. One of them is teacher Mihailo Kelebarda. He does not claim any specific nationality. His father is an Ukrainian, his mother a Croat. According to him, the incident was provoked by strangers and was not planned by the local Croats, but weekend visitors and settlers who were afraid of loosing the occupied [Serb] property.

"I think that this is the swan's song of the extremists, who are ignored by most Croats. The people will marginalize extremists. 70 percent of local inhabitants have family links or friendly relations with Croats," claims Kelebarda.

The teacher admits that mistakes were made by the Serbs as well. At the beginning of the last war, the Serbs totally destroyed the village of Hrvatski Blagaj, which, according to Kelebarda, should have been prevented.

"The Serbs could have been proud if they did not set the village on fire. I told them that then, and they did not like that. Fortunately, the Croats did not retaliate in the same way during the operation 'Storm'. Veljun was preserved, only a few houses were destroyed," emphasizes the teacher.

Biserka Legradic Explains Her Act

I'm Making Sure my Grandchildren do not become Communist Pioneers!

"I showed my scarred behind to the Cyrillic letters. I did not urinate on the monument, I only pretended to be urinating. You should know that I am a 70 percent disabled person from the Homeland War, a petty officer and a member of the 124th Vukovar brigade. I was decorated with the Croat Cross," says Biserka Legradic, showing us scars on her thighs. She replies to our question by saying that she is not sorry and that she does not regret her act because she did it for Croatia.

Although all the newspapers published that she is a mother of a slain defender of Croatia, she denies that. Her son died, but not in the war. "I do not have a problem with honest Serbs, nor with coexistence. You can ask my neighbors. But I have a problem with Chetniks. If they intend to again establish their Chetnik Krajina, then they should not be here. Why did we fight, why did our boys die, and we even cannot find their graves," emphasizes Legradic.

According to her, the Serbs provoked Croats by gathering around the monument on St. George's day. If they held the commemoration on May 9, when the victims were slain, there would have been no problems. Biserka claims that on several occasions they begged Serbs and all the Croat officials in Zagreb to postpone the gathering to May 9, but without success. All of them later claimed that they hadn't received our faxes.

"Lately, true Chetniks are coming back, instead of elderly and the poor. The Government says that we are extremists and rightists, while at the same time they allow proven Chetniks to walk around. I'd rather die this very moment than watch my grandchildren becoming Communist Pioneers. Communists and Chetniks are coming back. What sort of people are we, Croats? Are we stupid? We forget everything," believes Legradic.

Franjo Forgave Them

Croats from Kordun support the return of Serbs, but only honest Serebs. However, the types such as Uros Dudukovic have also come back. Croats from Slunj say that Dudukovic was the local commander of the Serb territorial defense and was decorated with a Chetnik decoration. Allegedly, the man who calmly describes how he shot from cannons on Croats has also come back. Frustrations do not end there. During the war 300 Croats have been killed in the Slunj region and people are unhappy to see neighbors who fought for Krajina. If you ask them why they do not report concrete cases to the Police they reply: "Fuck it, Franjo forgave them, they all received clemency."

Serbs Like Kurds

"Serbs do not want coexistence. They keep provoking Croats. They have not responded to a single action in the village. Their wartime leaders are coming back, they are fanning the flames," says Tomislav Turek, a defender of Croatia and a settler in Veljun. On the other side are frightened returnees. They tell you that Serbs are like Kurds, that they are not wanted anywhere. In Croatia they are Chetniks, in Serbia Ustashe. More of them are willing to come back but the incident could discourage many. "They are trying to expel us from Croatia and say that we want to destroy the state. How can we, just look at us, poor people and elderly, destroy a state. It would be easy to slaughter us all and we would be gone in a second. Everyone likes his own, but I think that it was too early to rebuild the monument. All of this happened because of the monument," says Stanka Dudukovic and adds that the Police saved her.

Translated on October 12, 2000