The water tower in Vukovar, 2005. Heavily damaged in battle, it has been preserved as a symbol of the town’s suffering.
Written by Ivan R. & Ante B.
November 18th, 2010 marks the nineteenth anniversary since the fall of the heroic city of Vukovar in Croatia. At the time, the international community stood still and watched the eastern Croatian city fall to Serbian paramilitary units and the Serbian-led Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) in an orgy of blatant barbaric killing that Europe had not seen since the end of World War II. Some would even argue that the type of warfare and civilian attacks in Vukovar were modern horrors of war that Europe had never seen before in its history. The formal Croatian army (Zbor Narodne Garde), as well as the Croatian Defence Forces (Hrvatske Obrambene Snage), held Vukovar, completely outnumbered and under-armed, against one of the world’s largest armies until the inevitable—the fall of Vukovar. On the same day in Škabrnja, near the city of Zadar, Serbian forces descended upon the small village and murdered dozens of soldiers and civilians in cold blood. These people were killed only because they were Croatian. Though only one small village and one city, the whole of Croatia—which democratically voted for independence just months earlier—trembled in fear of the advancing Serbian-led aggression.
Years after the war, with the establishment of the ICTY and several newly coined rhetorical and politically fuelled theories regarding the Croatian War of Independence – diluting it with terms such as civil war, Yugoslav war, Balkan war etc, Croatians do not need to look far beyond the first months of the Homeland War in Croatia and the fall of Vukovar itself in order for reality to kick in.
Phone-lines were useless and Croatia was still under a weapons embargo. Many villages had merely hunting rifles to defend themselves against advancing tanks and professional air and ground forces. Croatians tuned in all over the world on short wave radios to hear updates from the legendary reporter and hero, Siniša Glavašević, who reported directly from Vukovar. Glavašević stayed in Vukovar until the fall of the city and was taken prisoner by the JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army). Glavašević was taken with hundreds of wounded soldiers and civilians, including women and children from Vukovar to the prison camp Ovčara and executed. Glavašević’s heroic and unforgettable words today still resonate in every Croatian today:
“As for the city [Vukovar], do not worry about it. It has been inside of you all of this time but hidden long enough for the enemy not to find it. The city—is you.” – Siniša Glavašević, 1991
All over Croatia and the world, Croatians lit candles and prayed. They prayed for their families, their friends, and for the brave men who stood outnumbered and under armed in the name of Croatia and democracy. Today, years after Croatian triumph and freedom, Vukovar and Škabrnja are sharp and painful reminders of the many prices paid for our thousand year dream—a free Croatia.
May our prayers be with the victims of Vukovar; with the brave men and women who fell defending Vukovar; their families and their loved ones; to the thousands of women and children who were left alone; and to the soldiers who fought, survived, and will never be the same again.
STOJI GRAD i ŽIVJELA HRVATSKA!
Mamic is the biggest homosexual in all the balkans.
Let's remember Vukovar and Skab the next time we hear any ideas for a regional league. We should want nothing to do with those fuckers, period.
@ Ante B's Better Half,
Thanks mom! 😉
Nice article decki. Thank you. It's very important that we don't forget the atrocities that we withstood, nor the brave and self-less people who made the ultimate sacrifice which allowed us to do so.
Great article Ante i Ivan. I was fortunate enough to visit Vukovar in 2007 to witness the destruction first hand. Many of the buildings still look like the water tower. I had the privledge of visiting many memorials and gravesites to pay my respects to those who had fallen bravely. Hopefully, this day will never be forgotten.
Bog i Hrvati
Great article. 🙂
BOG i HRVATI i HERCEGOVCI
Great article Ante.
@ziva istina
Word around Texas.
"Niko Kranjcar gets offer from FC DALLAS"
@Andrej L,
You are on the right track, but I dont think that Austria wants any part of this HNL sinking ship.
@Jack,
Gerrard should return sometime in December. I wouldn't mind picking up a kranjcar liverpool shirt, however, the best place for him is mid table premierleague.
stankic stop spamming. you suck and so does the hammer
ZA DOM SPREMI
Great piece on Vukovar. Keep up the great work.
Maybe Kranjcar will head to Liverpool now that Gerrard is injured.
http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/2773/1/everton-ready-rival-liverpool-spurs-outcast
I still remember my father listening to Siniša Glavašević's broadcasts in our living room with his short wave radio.
Nice article. Never forget – RIP.
What makes you think Austria would want to be part of any league with us. We have internal corruption issues and holligan issues within the country. We have to solve this internally. Nobody will want to invest in the domestic game unless there is rule of law.
Ya seriously Stimac?? why are all these '98 team guys trying to come up…Soldo next NT coach too?? or Ladic is next in order I guess
We need some old Croatian money to donate and help build training facilities; Suker and Boban???…more importantly we need investors to help the economy overall
We should expand the league, I just don't know about to Serbia but to Austria and Slovenia maybe good….does anyone know how the basketball league is doing in terms of problems?
Nice article btw…I was young but I still remember the sirens going off like it was yesturday
National stadium takes a lot of $$$$$ to build and that is something the country of Croatia does not have right now. A training facility has been in the plans for 5 years now, but nothing has happend. Stimac has mentioned constructing 5 regional tranining facilities.
It is time fo0r Markovic to go, but will Stimac be any better. He is talking a good game and on paper his ideas are light years ahead of Markovic. But, this is after all Igor Stimac. he is no angel either.
Hopefully the recent comments by Markovic about gays is another black eye toward cro soccer and enough to get him out.
Markovic is a dinosaur and should step aside for the new generation to take over. I really think its time to build a pro training facility and a national stadium for Croatia. Its really pathetic that our NT doesn't have this yet.
Where do all the revenues generated by the NT go? Clearly its not being reinvested into building facilities or maintaining a decent web site. Markovic is a failure!
Everyone must visit Vukovar ! I did! nice Town!!!
live streams sports cro etc…free
links here
http://www.stankic.bloger.hr
BOG I HRVATI
ZA DOM
SPREMNI
Nice article. The people who defended Vukovar should never be forgotten.
And these are the people we want to have a "regional league" with?…..
Htjeli mi ili ne, i povjest naseg naroda i dosignuca u sportu pa i zivoti Hrvata oko nas imaju utjecaja na nase zivote na nacin na koji nismo ni svijesni. Sve je povezano i isprepleteno. Zato svi trebamo i History 101. Hvala Anti i Ivanu.
Moje molitve su sa svima koji su polozili svoje zivote na oltar domovine.
Pozdrav iz Splita
Nice article guys! You guys make me proud! Croatian should NEVER forget Vukovar and Skabrnja!
zivila skabrnja i zadar. hvala na ovoj prici.
Excellent work gentlemen! First we had Croatian 101, now we have Croatian History 101. Vukovar remains on the top of my list of cities that I haven't yet visited in Croatia. I enjoyed the read. Thanks guys.
Nice job Ante.
Side discussion did anyone hear about Markovic's comments on homosexuals never playing for the national team while he is President? How idiotic can this guy get? He already got suspended for his comments by FIFA and re-election is soon.