Banjaluka Candles Precede Republika Srpska's Day of Mourning

Republika Srpska marks August 4 as a Day of Mourning, and Banjaluka opens the two day remembrance tonight with the commemorative academy “Da se ne zaboravi, marama plava” (“Let it not be forgotten, the blue scarf”), starting at 8 p.m. in the churchyard of the Church of Christ the Savior. The program marks 31 years since Croatia’s military and police operation “Oluja” (Storm). The date carries weight beyond Bosnia and Herzegovina: it has been jointly observed by Serbia and Republika Srpska since 2014, and this year’s central ceremony brings the two sides together in Mrkonjic Grad.

Candle lighting in front of the church is set for 8:45 p.m., followed at 9 p.m. by a screening of the documentary “Petrovacka Cesta” (Petrovac Road) in “Oslobodjenje” Park. An exhibition on the shelling of refugee columns on the Petrovac road and in Svodna opened alongside the academy. The program is run by the Krajina Cultural Center “Sveti Sava” and the Veritas documentation and information center, with support from the City of Banjaluka.

What Is on Tuesday’s Program?

On Tuesday at 11 a.m., a memorial service will be held at the Church of Christ the Savior. At 11:55 a.m., sirens will sound across the city, a signal for residents to pause for a moment, and at noon wreaths will be laid at the Central Memorial. From 1 p.m., the Kuca Milanovica hosts the panel “Days of Grief and Remembrance,” with the promotion of new Veritas publications. The City of Banjaluka has invited residents to attend the program at all locations.

The Government of Republika Srpska adopted the Day of Mourning decision at its 16th telephone session, held on July 21. It is an entity level decision, binding on institutions in Republika Srpska, while Belgrade marks the same date as the Day of Remembrance for Serbs Killed and Expelled.

The Numbers Behind the Date

Veritas records give this remembrance its scale. According to Veritas, 1,903 Serbs were killed or went missing during and after Oluja, 1,247 of them civilians, about 66 percent. More than 220,000 people were expelled from the Republika Srpska Krajina.

One figure from the same source is rarely said aloud: about three quarters of those killed were older than 60. Set against the 220,000 expelled, the two numbers describe two separate currents of that same August, one on the road and one in the villages left behind the column. Tonight’s film is about the first.

Knin, a Day Later

Croatia marks the same event on August 5 in Knin, as Victory Day and Day of Homeland Gratitude, the 31st anniversary of the operation. The program opens with reveille at 6:30 a.m., mass follows at 7:30 a.m., and from 9 a.m. wreaths are laid at the monument on Ante Starcevic Square. The central ceremony takes place at the NK Dinara stadium at 9:40 a.m. and is broadcast by Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT). The organizing committee is led by Darko Nekic, state secretary at the Ministry of Croatian Veterans. At Knin fortress, 245 cadets of the Croatian Army and Police Academy trainees will take part, a number chosen to match the Croatian veterans killed or missing in the operation.

The two calendars miss each other by a single day and by an entire register: candles and sirens in Banjaluka, flags and honor volleys in Knin. The divide is not new, but it has been formalized since 2014, when Serbia and Republika Srpska began marking August 4 together while Croatia has kept August 5 as a state holiday for the same occasion.

We have already reported this week on the wreath laying on the Petrovac road and on the message from Rmanj Monastery. The Banjaluka program continues that sequence, and Mrkonjic Grad is where the Serbian and entity level ceremonies meet on Tuesday. The next date on this calendar is Wednesday, August 5, when the observance moves to Knin.