DODIK: FEBRUARY 7, 1942, A BLACK DATE IN OUR HISTORY; REPUBLIKA SRPSKA IS OUR SHIELD AND GUARANTOUR OF SURVIVAL

BANJA LUKA, JANUARY 31 /SRNA/ – SNSD Leader, Milorad Dodik, states that on February 7, 1942, one of the most monstrous crimes on European soil during the Second World War was committed, when Ustasha units of the Independent State of Croatia /NDH/ brutally killed 2,315 Serb civilians within just a few hours, including 551 children, in the villages of Drakulić, Šargovac, Motike, and the Rakovac mine outside Banja Luka.

"What hurt the most are the children, the victims of Ustasha bestiality. Children who never had the chance to grow up or even remember life. This crime was not a war, it was not a battle between armies, but a planned massacre of an unarmed population - women, the elderly, and the helpless on their very doorsteps. Mothers were killed in front of their children, children in front of their mothers and fathers. Entire families were wiped off the face of the earth simply because they were Serbs," Dodik told SRNA over tomorrow’s commemoration of 84 years since the NDH crime against Serb civilians in the villages of Drakulić, Šargovac, Motike, and the Rakovac mine outside Banja Luka, which took place on February 7, 1942. He emphasized that on that black day it was not a military unit that was extinguished, but an attempt was made to extinguish Serb homes, family names, and the future of an entire people, which is why it remains one of the darkest dates in the history of the Serb people in these areas. The SNSD leader recalled that the history of the Serb people is, unfortunately, full of such events, but that this crime, in which children were killed without a single shot being fired, is the most tragic. "The crime committed by the Ustashe in the Đura Jakšić Primary School in the Banja Luka village of Šargovac, where 52 pupils were killed, is one of the most horrific crimes of the Second World War. Innocent children were murdered with mallets, axes, knives… This crime symbolizes the suffering of Serbs in the NDH and proves to what extent an ideology of hatred can go when it becomes a state project and is given a uniform and a knife," Dodik stressed. Unfortunately, he added, the Serb people suffered more than ones in the 20th century at the hands of the same ideology and policies, which must never be forgotten, because had we not forgotten, and had we had our own state, it would not have been repeated. "Forgetting is the second killing of the victims. Any attempt to relativize, conceal, or diminish this crime is an attack on the dignity of the innocent victims and on the foundations of civilization itself. Republika Srpska and the Serb people have a moral duty to preserve the culture of remembrance of Drakulić, Šargovac, Motike, and all other sites where the Serbs suffered. This is not only a question of the past, but a warning for the future – to make sure that evil does not happen again, that the truth is not rewritten, and that the suffering of the innocent is never forgotten. Every silence, every minimization, every relativization of this crime is a new humiliation of the victims and an assault on the very dignity of humanity. Every site of the suffering of Serbs is a pledge that truth must remain stronger than oblivion and that the victims must live in our memory as they died - innocent,” Dodik emphasized. He recalled that the post-war communist regime skillfully concealed this crime until 1991, building an ideology of false “brotherhood and unity” to the detriment of the Serb people, preventing the establishment of facts about the genocide against Serbs and its perpetrators. In support of this, Dodik adds, is the fact that the truth about this crime was suppressed and silenced, and that only in 1965 a monument was erected in Drakulić bearing a red star and the inscription “to the victims of fascist terror,” with a reduced number of victims and the concealment of the nationality of both the victims and their executioners. He recalled that the monument was renovated in 1991, and that the Memorial Church of the Holy Great Martyr George dedicated to the victims of this massacre was built in Donji Drakulić and consecrated in 2009. Dodik pointed out that this is yet another confirmation of the importance of the existence of Republika Srpska, which is not merely a political fact, but a guarantor of survival, freedom, and dignity of the Serb people in these areas. "Republika Srpska is our homeland and our shield, and we must protect it so that it may protect us, our ancestors, and our future generations. Republika Srpska is the guarantor of our survival and our existence," said SNSD leader Milorad Dodik.