Ethnic cleansing and destruction in Stolac
by Matej Vipotnik
Stolac is located in southern Herzegovina, approximately 40km southeast of Mostar. It is a quasi-mythical town. Nobel laureate Ivo Andric, author of "The Bridge on the Drina," once pointed out that "if God created the world anywhere, then he created it in Stolac". Its municipality was indeed one of the most significant centers of Bosnian culture, and Bosnia and Herzegovina considered proposing Stolac for the UNESCO list of mankind's cultural heritage in the 1980s.
Neolithic sketches, about 5,000 years old, were the first traces of civilization
in the area. The Illyrian megalithic fortress Daorson, and subsequently the
Roman fortress Diluntum, preceded Stolac. The town and its architecture were
a mixture of indigenous, oriental, and Mediterranean culture which created its
distinctiveness.
In early 1993, the HVO "Knez Domagoj" brigade and the BiH army "Bregava" brigade fought together against the Serbs. By April, 1993, the HVO turned against the BiH army and occupied one part of Stolac, dividing its territory with the army of Republika Srbska. The town was cleansed of its Muslim inhabitants. Then the HVO, which must have been disturbed by all the eclecticism of the town's architecture, destroyed much of its cultural heritage.
The first impression one gets of Stolac is one of austerity. It is not a hospitable environment, with high, arid hills surrounding the town on three sides, its sole vitality provided by the Bregava river. The town was deserted in the sweltering heat, most locals bathing in the Bregava, apparently the only form of local entertainment. We soon ran into a Spanish foot patrol, who were visibly bored, and rather surprised that anyone would want to visit Stolac. The three told us that the locals had been placid since IFOR arrived: bar brawls were the only excitement the Spaniards had witnessed.
Heading eastwards, the road coasts the Uzinovici section of town on a hillside.
The view is one of total destruction. Projectile holes on every roof attest
to prolonged shelling, most likely from the initial stages of the war between
the HVO and BiH army on one side -- the Serbs on the other.
Yet the destruction was far more systematic. Most houses seem to have been dynamited at the foundations, and whoever did it was thrifty on explosive and not particularly skillful. The structures are damaged beyond repair -- though most still stand -- slanted at awkward angles, giving the impression of imminent collapse. The HVO was also kind enough to leave its initials sprayed on these ruins for posterity.
Heading back to the center of Stolac we passed through the Uzinovici section. The old Orthodox cemetery was surprisingly intact. Not a house around it was still standing. Eventually we fell upon the ruins of the Ismail-Kapetan Saric mosque. It was formerly a charming construct built in 1741, adorned with rich flower arabesque. Two years before the war extensive restoration work was initiated for the conservation and revival of the mosque complex. The craftsmen's efforts were in vain. In the summer of 1993, when the HVO took over Stolac, the mosque was set on fire and the roof, together with the minaret, collapsed on itself.
We ventured to look for the other mosques, of which formerly there were, in
Stolac alone, four. Yet the only visible monument in sight was an overturned
statue to the victims of the Second World War. Resigned, we inquired with some
local kids. They pointed at a grassy knoll next to the river, grinning, seemingly
amused by our dismay.
"Who did that?" we inquired. "Why, we Croats did." they replied openly, still grinning. Their candor was shocking as well as sinister. An elderly man confirmed, very casually, that the mosque had indeed been where the grassy knoll is today until the summer of 1993. The mosque of Hadzi-Alija Hadzisalihovic (in the part of town called Cuprija) was built in 1736. There was formerly a well and a fountain in the mosque courtyard and the stone minaret was octagonal and 15 meters high. The mosque was burnt on July 27th 1993, and dynamited on August 2nd 1993. After it was torn down, the construction material was removed. The grass lawn betrayed nothing.
We then set out to find the Orthodox church of Holy Assumption of Christ, which was built in 1870. The top of the bell tower at the entrance had been decorated with a rosette bearing a six-pointed star. A valuable icon from the 17th century had adorned the church. The church had been looted and then set on fire in the summer of 1992 by the HVO. They were courteous enough to overturn only one tombstone.
We failed to find the mosque of Ali-Pasha Rizvanbegovic (built in 1732) and the mosque of Sultan Selim (built in 1519 and considered one of the oldest mosques in BiH). Later we were told that the first one was burnt on the evening of July 28th 1993 and dynamited on August 8th 1993. It was torn to the ground, and the remaining construction material was trucked away. The second was burnt and dynamited by HVO soldiers in the early summer of 1993, causing considerable damage. In early August, 1993, the mosque was dynamited again and torn to the ground. At the same time, all attached facilities were destroyed. The construction material was later removed.
The war in Bosnia was noted not only for out-and-out attacks on the people of
the region, but also on the various landmarks that made up their cultural identities.
From Mostar to Sarajevo to Banja Luka, religious monuments, libraries and all
manner of memorials in between have been the targets of systematic attack by
extremists.
"Why do we feel more pain looking at the image of the destroyed bridge (in Mostar) than the image of the massacred people?" asked Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic in May of 1994. "Perhaps because we see our own mortality in the collapse of the bridge... We expect people to die; we count on our own lives to end. The destruction of a monument to civilization is something else. The bridge, in all it's beauty and grace was built to outlive us. It was an attempt to grasp eternity. It transcended our individual destiny."
The only comforting fact on this trip was that the ancient Roman castle above Stolac and the necropolis still stand. This perhaps is because there aren't many Romans around these days and thus pose no apparent ethnic or political threat.
Note by M.Sells to Vipotnik text (images from Vipotnik Berserkistan article) |
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Periodically, the page features an accused war-criminal living in open impunity, despite strong evidence and testimony. The short description Marijan Prce below includes only crimes that could be cross-documented, in the face of witnesses' fear of retaliation. Prce was also allegedly a major rapist during the period of HVO atrocities in Stolac.. PRCE, MARIJAN (son of Nikola), police officer, resident of Crnici, village of Jasoc, Stolac municipality 1. Committed the crime of robbery of detained Bosniak civilians from Dubrave, when they were being transferred from the "Branko Sotra" primary school in Crnici to the village of Pjesivac, to houses of Kaplan and Djulic families. Valuables were removed from detainees by force, before being deported from the Stolac area on 2 August 1993; 2. He took part in the crime of expulsion and deportation of Bosniak population from Stolac. He was one of the HVO soldiers who detained the population in camps of RMK factory and local highschool, on 3 and 4 August 1993. Detained Bosniaks were detained, robbed, and then deported to Buna, Mostar municipality; 3. Responsible for the murder of Meho Baljic. In early October 1993, he took Meho Baljic from the police station to the Bone Diseases Hospital. There has been no trace of Meho Baljic since. He is presumed dead; 4. He was in the group of HVO soldiers who committed the crime of burning down and mining the Emperor's Mosque in the beginning of summer 1993; 5. He took part in mining Hadzi-Salih Buro's mosque in Stolac, on 8 August 1993; 6. He took part in burning down Mosque of Hadzi-Alija Hadzisalihovic, on 27 July 1993; 7. He took part in burning Mosque of Ismail-kapetan Saric in the summer 1993; 8. He took part in burning houses and destruction of property in Stolac. All houses owned by distinguished Bosniaks, which were a part of the Bosniak cultural heritage, were burnt to the ground. 9. He witnessed and participated all expulsions, robberies, burning, and torture in Stolac municipality. |
The Bridge Betrayed War-Crimes Reports Page
From the information on what was destroyed in just one municipality (see
excerpts below), one can get some sense scale of the losses, in most cases
irretrievable, of unique original manuscripts, historical documents and
the records of communal and private libraries and archives throughout
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Public collections
Private collections:
- Behmen