Croatians light candles ahead of Vukovar and Skabrnja Remembrance Day

On the eve of Remembrance Day for the Victims of Vukovar and Škabrnja, observed on November 18, people across Croatia are lighting candles and laying wreaths to honor those killed during the Homeland War.

November 17, 1991, marked the final day before the fall of Vukovar, which had endured an 87-day siege. Since early this morning, a steady stream of visitors has been arriving at the Memorial Cemetery in Vukovar to place flowers and candles on the graves of soldiers and civilians. Dozens of Homeland War associations were among those paying tribute.

“Croatia is still searching for 1,740 people who remain unaccounted for, 328 of them from Vukovar,” said Ljiljana Alvir, president of the Association of Missing, Killed, and Imprisoned Croatian Defenders.

Kata Lozančić, sister of Vukovar hero Marko Babić, is still looking for the remains of her parents. Several people have been convicted of war crimes related to their torture and killing, but the family has yet to bury them.

“This group of ten Serbs from Trpinja were convicted—some are still serving sentences. They get weekend leave, and I still haven’t buried my parents,” she said.

Marija Njirjak, who was wounded and hospitalized during the battle, recalled the night before Vukovar fell.

“The shooting went on all night. The first person they killed was a cast technician named Marko,” she said. Njirjak, who was immobilized in a body cast, survived. Her sister, husband, sister-in-law, and a military policeman were killed.

In the days following the city’s fall, JNA soldiers and Serb paramilitaries removed more than 250 wounded people from the Vukovar hospital. Most were executed at Ovčara Farm. Dr. Goran Aleksijević remembers that hospital staff were barred from helping the wounded.

“They had lists of names. They took people who were severely injured, starving, and very ill,” he said.

Surviving hospital staff gathered today for their traditional meeting ahead of tomorrow’s anniversary. Nurse Branka Mažar said she thinks often of the people she cared for.

“There were so many, and I’m always happy when I run into one of my former patients,” she said.

A prayer vigil is scheduled tonight at Vukovar Memorial Hospital.