VukoWAR - burning on the edge of Croatia

Memory... What to do with the memory? 
Forget!
How to forget? Whom?
Can a mother forget a child, or a victim of an executioner?
No forgetting ... And not only in these columns of memory, there is no forgetting whenever the name Vukovar is mentioned, neither after 20 years, nor much later ...
We have no right to forget, never ...

This is story about city that refused to give up. under the rain of steel, fire and death...

Battle of Vukovar was biggest and bloodiest battle of Croatian homeland war in 1991. Vukovar was attacked on 25th of August and was refusing to give up until 18th of November, when it fell down in Serbian hands. 87 days of suffering and struggle to survive and protect city. 

30.000 serbs were attacking city for more then 2 months, in city itself was 1800 Croats protecting it and refusing to give up and gave city in hands of executioner. In last moments of city resistance, in biggest attacks on city, by some of Croatian journalists it was more then 70.000 solders on Serbian side attacking city. 1600 tanks... In last moments in city there was not many people, because lot of them were already dead and wounded. Vukovar was completley disconnected from rest of Croatia, and other Croatian solders couldn't get trough and help city. While defending city, more then 900 Croatian solders were killed, after city was captured, aproximatley 600 more were killed. More then 1000 Croatian solders that were fighitng in Vukovar area were never found... Also there were more then 1000 civilians killed while city was resisting.

By official numbers, Vukovar hospital was target and bombed by avg. 700 bombs and granades in day... Anyone who knows anything about history and wars, hospitals should never be bombed because they need to help both sides, no matter in whoes side they are... 
Red Cross was trying to send help in Vukovar hospital few times, but each time they were stopped by Serbian army outside of city and they never let them trough, explanation was that Croatians would kill them... According to that, hospital run out of electricity, water, drugs and materials to help people... 

Lot of people stayed in city, even though they knew that death is coming. 
This story of Siniša Glavašević, editor of Radio Vukoar and war reporter from Vukovar, until November 4th, 1991, when he was killed, he stayed and worked every day on radio to give people support and hope. 

"I give up all search for justice, truth, I give up trying to subordinate ideals to my own life, I give up everything I considered necessary for some good beginning, or good end, yesterday. I would probably give up on myself too, but I can’t. For, who will remain if we all renounce ourselves and flee into our fear? To whom to leave the city?

Who will guard it for me until I am gone, while I search for the dumps of human souls, while I am headless, wounded and tired, in a fever, while my eyes grow before personal defeat?

Who will guard my city, my friends, who will bring Vukovar out of the darkness?

There are no backs stronger than mine and yours, and therefore, if it is not difficult for you, if there is still a youthful whisper left in you, join. Someone touched my parks, the benches where your names are still engraved, the shadow in which you gave at the same time, and received the first kiss - someone simply stole everything because, how to explain that there is no Shadow either? There is no shop window where you admired your own joys, there is no cinema where you watched the saddest movie, your past is simply shattered and now you have nothing. You have to rebuild. First your past, look for your roots, then your present, and then, if you have the strength left, invest it in the future. And do not be alone in the future. And the city, don't worry about it, it was in you all the time. Just hidden. That the executioner doesn't find him.

The city is you."

Biggest victory for Croats in Vukovar was Tripnjska Cesta, known as tanks cementry... Croatian forces managed to destroy more then 30 tanks only on that road. That road of tanks cementry definetly got some fear in bones of attackers. And gave hope and beliefe to Croatian people.

I truly recomend Harrisons blomster (Harrison's Flowers) movie for all of you who doesn't understand Croatian. On yt there is lot of Vukovar videos on Croatian, but you can get clear photo of what was happening there...

These days Croats are remembering Battle of Vukovar and they when Vukovar fell. It is sad to hear our politicans how they argue about city every year. These motherfuckers remember city only in campains before their fucking elections, they don't care about people, about city, they are not investing there and they are not changing anything, all they do is talk. On days, that should be in peace, giving respect to all victims of Vukovar, these souless vertebrates are arguing about politics...
And you see, thats sad party of this story, part that they don't care about city, that gave everything for Croatia, where people stayed to die to protect it.

And then at the end we have Ovčara. 

The Vukovar massacre, also known as the Vukovar hospital massacre or the Ovčara massacre, was the killing of Croatian prisoners of war and civilians by Serb paramilitaries, to whom they had been turned over by the Yugoslav People's Army , at the Ovčara farm southeast of Vukovar on 20 November 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The massacre occurred shortly after Vukovar capture by the JNA, Territorial Defence (TO), and paramilitaries from neighbouring Serbia. It was the largest massacre of the Croatian War of Independence.

There are many stories and many heroes of city. So many of them that they wouldn't fit in this short story about this city. Actually, each of them, who was there and who stayed there is my hero. Solder, civilians, citizens, all of them, they made Croatia proud, and they gave Croats hope to fight against much stronger enemy, that at the end, we manage to not beat, not win, but protect ourselves and our homeland. Because in this war, there was no winner, there was just small nation who wanted their country, and they got it at the end, with so many losts...