Mount Medvednica, December 7, 2023.
On this day in 1991, the first snow, they say, surprised the citizens of Zagreb. I believe that many families took advantage of such an opportunity for winter joys. The Zec family should have had such a chance too.
However, twelve-year-old Aleksandra and her parents, Marija and Mihajlo, were killed by members of the reserve unit of the Ministry of the Interior, irreversibly destroying the upbringing of her siblings, Dušan and Gordana.
Although they admitted guilt, the perpetrators were never held accountable for it.
We are the generation that grew up under the burden of a war-torn past, and we continue to live with its consequences. Our lives have been unnecessarily influenced by the fact that Nikola is Serbian, and I am Croatian. Our lives have been influenced by the fact that we grew up in an immature society where blame was often shifted and responsibility rarely taken. In a society where perpetrators went unpunished, and victims were consciously forgotten.
From this place, therefore, we want to clearly and loudly state - we remember. We remember all the victims of senseless wars in the '90s, regardless of their nationality. We remember their families who lost their loved ones, all those displaced who lost their homes and homelands, all those impoverished who lost their jobs and livelihoods. We remember all the children who had to grow up in such circumstances, especially those who failed to grow up in such a society. We remember Aleksandra Zec.
But we also remember the criminals, their shameful deeds, and their shameless protectors: those who released the perpetrators and then honored them, as well as those who today relativize the motives for the murder.
The Zec family case illustrates blind violence, not only towards our most vulnerable fellow citizens but also towards the institutions of the rule of law, the idea of democracy, and human rights.
We, the new generations, are determined to continue fighting for these values.
Therefore, we are proud that Zagreb no longer avoids its past but bravely accepts it and lives with it. This memorial plaque must serve as a reminder to all of us of what the war vortex does, or rather, whom it can take away at any moment. Especially in today's world where dialogue is once again being replaced by war.
Also, this place, although a physical testament to human capacity for destruction, can simultaneously be an example of our potential to truly learn from the past.
We want to believe that the installation of the memorial plaque in memory of Aleksandra, Marija, and Mihajlo Zec opens a new, positive, tolerant, inclusive, and courageous chapter in Croatian history.
We, as members of the new generation, will persist in ensuring that Croatia continues in that direction.
Although we could not influence the past, we want to create a society to which Dušan and Gordana Zec, Aleksandra's brother and sister, can return normally. Because Zagreb is also their hometown, and Croatia is the land for all of us.
Thank you.
Nikola Kožul and Senna Šimek
PHOTO: Dora Tomljanović
Program Impact4Values is co-funded by the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia.