A Memorandum of Cooperation Between the Municipality of Brod and the Memorial Center of the Republic of Srpska Has Been Signed

The Mayor of Brod Municipality, Milan Zečević, and the Director of the Memorial Center of Republika Srpska, Denis Bojić, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation yesterday, formalizing their joint work on preserving historical memory and documenting the suffering of the Serbian people.

To date, the Memorial Center of Republika Srpska has recorded 63 testimonies from family members of killed and missing civilians and soldiers from the Defense-Patriotic War in the territory of Brod Municipality, primarily from parents.

This cooperation includes the formation of an expert team that will work on collecting and recording testimonies from family members of killed and missing civilians and soldiers, as well as from other individuals whose life stories testify to the suffering of the Serbian people in the past war. “Unfortunately, a significant number of camps for Serbs existed in the territory of Brod, and today a large number of people still live in this area who can testify about Serbian suffering. Through our joint efforts, we will try, in the shortest possible time, to record as many testimonies as possible. These will become part of the integral database of the Memorial Center of Republika Srpska and the museum dedicated to the creation of Republika Srpska,” Bojić explained.

He added that the collected material will also be made available to Brod Municipality, so that the local community can, in accordance with its resources, organize its own exhibition setup. The goal is for visitors to Brod to gain insight into the suffering and historical events in this area through authentic testimonies.

“Brod is an extremely important municipality considering the historical events in Brod. We have already carried out a number of activities regarding the recording of testimonies, and through cooperation with the municipality we have now formalized everything that awaits us in the future,” said the Director of the Memorial Center of Republika Srpska.

Bojić also recalled that the Memorial Center of Republika Srpska has several strategic goals, one of the most important being the systematic collection and preservation of all available testimonies about the suffering of the Serbian people, primarily on the territory of Republika Srpska.

The Mayor of Brod Municipality, Milan Zečević, described this project as historically significant and expressed satisfaction that Brod Municipality has the opportunity to actively participate in its implementation. “I thank Mr. Bojić and his team for the great work they have done and will continue to do. Brod Municipality will gladly participate and do everything in its power to help bring this project to completion as efficiently and quickly as possible,” Zečević stated.

He emphasized that Brod is one of the most victimized and most destroyed municipalities and the place where Operation Corridor officially ended.

“From early spring until October 7, 1992, various horrors took place here, and even after that our residents—civilian war victims and soldiers—experienced certain things that we believe we will document through this project. We will find ways to educate future generations and remind ourselves of the difficult times behind us, so that such events never happen again,” concluded the Mayor of Brod Municipality.

The signing of the memorandum was also attended by Isidora Graorac, President of the Republican Organization of Families of Captured, Killed Fighters and Missing Civilians, as well as representatives of the Memorial Center of Republika Srpska, the Veterans’ Organization of Brod, the Municipal Organization of Families of Captured, Killed Fighters and Missing Civilians, the Association of Veterans of the Defense-Patriotic War, and the Association of Women Victims of War from Brod.

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