77th Anniversary of Macelj Atrocities Commemorated
ZAGREB, 5 June 2022 - A mass and other religious services were held in Macelj on Sunday to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the killing of numerous defeated soldiers and civilians by the Communist regime in early June 1945 in that Croatian town near the border with Slovenia.
The War Veterans' Affairs Ministry State Secretary Darko Nekić said in Macelj today that investigations into what happened to victims of the Second World War and to those killed in the aftermath of that war were one of the major tasks of the ministry.
According to some estimates, in Macelj and nearby forests around 13,000 people were killed in early June 1945. With the 1,163 identified victims, including 21 priests, Macelj is so far the biggest site of Communist crimes in Croatia. A score of mass graves have been exhumed at Macelj so far.
Nekić said that the ministry and the Macelj 1945 association were intensively working on shedding the light on those crimes.
The official said that over the last 18 months, nine locations have been searched for remains of the victims, and at one of them, the remains of 84 people have been unearthed.
For more, check out our lifestyle section.
Commemoration for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes Held in Macelj
ZAGREB, Aug 23, 2020 - On the occassion of the European Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes - Nazism, fascism and communism - and in memory of the victims of the communist massacre in Macelj, a holy mass was said on Sunday in a church in Macelj.
The mass was followed by a commemoration in the graveyard next to the church in the northern Croatian village close to the border with Slovenia.
Thousands of victims died in Macelj, and with the 1,250 exhumed victims, including 21 priests, it is so far the biggest site of Communist crimes in Croatia.
Damir Borovcak, vice-president of the Macelj 1945 NGO, which organised the commemoration this year again, recalled the NGO's principle: "No to hate, no to revenge, we only want the truth available to the public."
He said that after the 1992 exhumations, the search around Macelj forests and mountains finally resumed, after 28 long years, during the term of the previous government.
"In May this year 82 new victims were found," he said.
Zdravko Cepo, president of the Macelj 1945 NGO, said that there were many graves around Macelj that needed to be thoroughly searched.
"We hope that we will manage to do that, that we will have the time and resources to find them and give them all a dignified burial," he said, adding that the search will continue in cooperation with the Veterans' Affairs Ministry.
As a delegate of Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic, MP Zdravka Busic also attended the commemoration. She called the Macelj area a sacred place that deserved to be respected and revered.
"Civilians, priests, nuns were killed here, and you see how many graves, mass graves there are here, still hidden in these forests. But let us be grateful for everything that the Croatian government has been doing, we have had an exhumation this summer, and I hope we are on the right path, a path of reconciliation," said Busic, undescoring that she hoped everyone will realise that every victim is equal.
For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily.
Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages
