Anniversary of death of Gordan Lederer marked on Čukur hill

The 33rd anniversary of the death of Croatian Radio and Television cameraman Gordan Lederer was commemorated at the "Broken Landscape" memorial on the Čukur hill above Hrvatska Kostajnica.

“What is especially important to me is that we do not forget the memories not only of Gordan, but also of all Croatian veterans, and all journalists, and all cameramen who gave their lives and who were with our boys, in tennis shoes and in 91 walked together with their only weapons at the time, which were cameras,” said Ana Lederer.

“The dawn of war in Banija will forever remain for our future generations as a reminder that the freedom we have today was not a gift, that it was paid for with the blood of Croatian veterans,” stated the Minister of Croatian Veterans, Tomo Medved.

“The enemy was not only afraid of our weapons, the Croatian Army, he was actually afraid of the camera, afraid of the pen, afraid of the truth,” said HRT assistant general director Renato Kunić.

“We remember well all the work of our photographer and TV cameraman Gordan Lederer. His family has the greatest sadness on this day, as do all families of dead and missing Croatian veterans, because they made the greatest sacrifice for our freedom. For all men and women from Kostajnica, the monument is of great importance because it shows that we must never forget the victims. They tasked us with bearing part of the responsibility and in all challenging times to preserve and build the best of us for future generations,” said the mayor of Hrvatska Kostajnica Dalibor Bišćan for Croatian Radio.

Representatives of the cities of Zagreb and Pakrac, the HRT delegation led by Assistant Director General Renato Kunić, fellow HRT war correspondents, representatives of the Border Police, and numerous associations from the Homeland War also paid their respects to Lederer.

Gordan Lederer was killed on the Čukur Hill on August 10, 1991 while on assignment. He was hit by a bullet from an enemy sniper, filming the actions of the defenders during the Serbian attacks on Pounje. The enemy did not allow a helicopter to fly in to pick up the wounded Lederer and transfer him to Zagreb, and he died of his wounds. He left behind many documentary recordings about the first days of the Homeland War, which were later edited into the legendary "Banija War Dawn".

Source: HRT