Zagreb, December 8th, 2021
The Youth Initiative for Human Rights joined the commemoration “The Zec Family – 30 Years Later” yesterday, on December 7, 2021, organized by the Antifascist League of the Republic of Croatia and the Serb National Council.
The commemoration was held at Adolfovac on Sljeme, the place where on the night of December 7-8, 1991, members of the reserve of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia killed twelve-year-old Aleksandra and her mother Marija. Earlier that evening, Aleksandra’s father Mihajlo Zec was killed in front of their house in Trešnjevka.
The commemoration was joined by YIHR activists who learned at last week’s workshop about the murder of the Zec family and the trials that followed and discussed the culture of memory.
On behalf of the Antifascist League, activist Tatjana Dragičević pointed out that the liquidation of the Zec family belongs to “the most shameful parts of the history of the city of Zagreb”. She reminded of “the Zec family, their innocence, and the oblivion that occurs for all those who are not easy to remember. Because memories of them cause discomfort and shame. Sometimes, that is the only thing that distinguishes us – both from the criminals and from those who had an understanding for that crime. ”
Then the poet Sanja Baković read her poem The Sign of the Silent Deer, and during the evening an art installation in the form of three light pillars of memory was visible from most of Zagreb as a memorial to the Zec family.
The Mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, also appeared at the commemoration for the first time, paying tribute to the victims and sending the following message from Adolfovac:
“Such crimes must not be forgotten so that something similar does not happen again in the future. I want to live in a city – that’s how we will lead Zagreb and it will be that way – where everyone feels comfortable, where there is no discrimination on any grounds, be it nationality, religion, skin color, or something else.
That is why tonight on Sljeme we humbly paid tribute to the victims – as a pledge of a better future, that the city of Zagreb will be open to all and that everyone will have their place in it. It is a city that I believe in and it is a city that Zagreb will be like. ”
We remind you that ahead of the 30th anniversary of the murder, we submitted a proposal to the Committee for Naming Settlements, Streets, and Squares of the City of Zagreb to include the Zec family name in the Name Fund from which public areas in the City of Zagreb are named. Furthermore, to Mayor Tomašević, we submitted a document which we created:”Inclusive Remembrance: Recommendations for Commemorating Civilian War Victims for Representatives of Local and Regional Self-Government in the Republic of Croatia”, which encourages local authorities to engage more actively in commemorating all civilian war victims, regardless of their national origin or ethnicity.
Activity Campaign 2: Commemorating civilian victims of the 1990s wars in marked and unmarked places of suffering is part of Project 4O: Discovering, Awareness, Empowerment and Human Rights Organization totaling € 170,147 of which € 149,922.00 was provided through financial support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under EEA grants.
The visual identity “Fragments” designed by Isabell Radešić connects the commemorations of civilian victims of the wars of the 1990s in the Republic of Croatia. It was chosen as the best artistic solution in a competition announced to complete the document to the representatives of local and regional self-government, which contains recommendations for commemorating civilian victims and the mentioned artistic solution, and is called Inclusive Remembrance: Recommendations for Commemorating Civilian War Victims for Representatives of Local and Regional Self-Government in the Republic of Croatia”.