Two weeks ago, Vukovar was declared a city of piety. What Auschwitz is to the Jews, that is what Vukovar is to Croats. Cyrillic in Vukovar is what the swastika is in Auschwitz – unacceptable. Vukovar is a sacred city, but it is also an eerie city, where the birds stopped singing a long time ago. Humanity must never forget the horror of Vukovar, and yet, that horror continues on today.
Canadians and Americans from coast to coast paused this week, to honor the sacrifices our soldiers and war veterans made for our freedom. While Rememberance Day and Memorial Day ceremonies were held on Monday in the USA and Canada, a Croatian war veteran was brutally beaten by a Croatian police officer while attempting to remove a bilingual Cyrillic sign on a government building in Vukovar. The war veteran, Darko Pajčić, was no ordinary war veteran. He was only 18 years when he dropped out of school, equipped with only his running shoes and a rifle, to defend his beloved Vukovar. To add salt to the wound, the Croatian officer responsible for the beating was a Serb, who fought against Croatian forces in 1991.
This morning, Croatian Minister of Internal Affairs, Ranko Ostojić, stated that ‘alcohol is to blame’ for the incident. Really, Mr. Ostojić? Was alcohol to blame for this war veteran, who likely suffers from PTSP, to lie there injured in his own blood while police officers stand around and debate whether to call for medical help? Was alcohol to blame for the war from ’91-95? Is this how we treat our war veterans? When did a bilingual sign, a sign that should not even be there, become more important than a human life?
It is time for action! The Association for the Defense of Vukovar needs to rally and the people of Croatia need to stand up for the the rights of CROATIAN people, not always focusing on a small minority that makes up the population. It is time that our war veterans be treated with dignity and respect! It is time that government institutions employ Croats, and not those that ravaged our homeland! It is time for Croatia to rid themesleves of the red communists that are leading this country given to us from God, into complete destruction! It is time for this Serbian man disguised in a Croatian police uniform to be brought to justice!