President of the Republic of Srpska attends marking of 77 years since the suffering of Serbs in Drakulić, Šargovac, Motike and mine Rakovac

The President of the Republic of Srpska Željka Cvijanović attended marking of 77 years since the suffering of Serbs in Drakulić, Šargovac, Motike and mine Rakovac.

The Republic of Srpska President said in Drakulić that in this place 77 years ago, the most monstrous crime was committed not only in the Second World War, but in the bloody Balkan history in general.

“The gravity of the crime and mass massacre committed by the Ustashe on February 7, 1942 oblige us to remember the victims and to pay respect to them, but also to engage in deeper and more serious consideration of our present and especially the future while remembering our past”, stressed the President Cvijanović while her address at the commemoration to the victims in Drakulić.

The President of the Republic recalled that in the war, when armies are to collide, it is expected that there will be victims, and that not only soldiers but also civilians will suffer.

“But the fact, that in these suburban villages of Banja Luka in the most cruel way, only in one day, without a bullet shot and with an undoubted genocidal intention, 2,315 Serbs out of which 551 children from newborns to fourteen were killed with knives, axes, picks and other cold weapons, speaks of something much more terrible than expected or anticipated war suffering”, said the President Cvijanović.

The President of Srpska assessed that every normal person must think about what kind of hatred or ideology, which evil, or a religious or political goal, can incite another man to such terrible, massive and brutal tragedies.

According to the President of the Republic of Srpska, there are many such sites, from Jasenovac, Prebilovci, Jadovno, Hercegovina and Krajina caves and other places.

The President Cvijanović noted that such Ustashe crime happened in Drakulić, Šargovac, Motike, the mine Rakovac and in the surrounding villages of Piskavica and Ivanjska, where, apart from civilians, the children were killed in a terrifying way, systematically and deliberately by the Independent State of Croatia.

The President of the Republic reminded that there were many victims and sufferings in the previous defense-patriotic war and that all this means that it is necessary to think about the future very seriously, to draw lessons from the past, but also to analyse the current processes and environment.

“We enjoy freedom today because we have the Republic of Srpska. We create ourselves as a society, we have our goal and build it for the generations to come. The price we paid for this freedom in the previous war was high, but it would be higher if we did not have the Republic of Srpska and that in the meantime we did not build and strengthen our institutions, we would look at the future with less certainty”, said the President Cvijanović.

The President of Srpska emphasized that it is the duty of everyone to guard the Republic of Srpska, because it is a guarantee that the Serbian people will have freedom.

The President Cvijanović said that the Serbian people wants to live in peace with other nations, but also to preserve its autonomy, constitutional capacity and the right to govern political and economic processes that are important for further development.

The President of the Republic of Srpska noted that this time is not deprived of the challenges and pressures of a different nature and that it is therefore important to strengthen the institutions of Srpska and their ability to respond to the needs of citizens.

“The future of the Republic depends on our historical memory, but also our correct knowledge of our environment, as well as of the world in which we live. That is why our political and our national will is crucial to preserving the freedom we live in and which we want to leave to the generations to come”, it was said by the President Cvijanović.