The decades-long peace of Orthodox cemeteries in the vicinity of Vrbovsko, in Gorski Kotar, has been brutally disturbed by an unprecedented act of the local municipal service. As reported by “Novosti”, the portal of the Serbian National Council, municipal workers two weeks ago uprooted around one hundred metal crosses from old graves and transported them to a scrapyard, causing unprecedented shock and outrage among the local population.
The tragedy was discovered on Friday morning when residents came to light candles for their ancestors. At the cemetery in Ljubošina, they found plowed-up graves without religious markers. Darko Stipanović, who found the grave sites of his ancestors empty, told “Novosti” that there was no reason for such a move, as this is a village cemetery where there was no need for exhumation.
CRIME AGAINST THE DEAD: Orthodox cemetery in Ljubošina before the desecration
“The crosses under which my great-grandfather and great-grandmother were buried have disappeared. For most of those buried it is known whose ancestors they are, and we were not informed about this decision,” said Stipanović.
The deputy mayor of Vrbovsko from the ranks of the Serbian minority, Milan Mamula, confirmed to the newspaper that 72 crosses were removed from the cemetery in Ljubošina alone, while at Trnova Poljana at least ten more disappeared. He emphasizes that this represents a “trampling on the dignity of families and humanity.”
The mayor of Vrbovsko, Dražen Mufić, in a conversation with “Novosti,” defended the decision, although he claims he learned about it only afterward. He states that only about ten “tilted and fallen remnants” that posed a danger to visitors during winter were removed. The crosses allegedly had no owners nor were they protected as cultural monuments.
THE PLACE WHERE THE CROSSES WERE UPROOTED: Orthodox cemetery in Ljubošina
Mufić admitted that the metal likely ended up at the raw materials purchase company “Metis” in Ogulin. However, photographs obtained by “Novosti” sharply contradict the mayor – they clearly show entire, stable crosses. These monuments have special ethnographic value for the region, as for hundreds of years they were forged from parts of the wagon wheels of deceased family members.
The Serbian Orthodox Church’s Upper Karlovac Eparchy also commented on the event, emphasizing that the cross on a grave for Orthodox believers is a testimony of faith in the Resurrection. The Eparchy demands an urgent clarification of the situation, the finding and return of the crosses, and full remediation of the damage, reminding that some of these markers are several hundred years old.
A representative of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), Milan Vukelić, told “Novosti” that this is a “combination of political provocation and arbitrariness.” He recalled the continuity of tensions in Vrbovsko, where Serbs make up 32% of the population, including previous physical attacks on Serbian representatives and bans on humanitarian actions for children.
The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia has launched a criminal investigation, and the municipal warden has already been summoned for questioning. While the investigation continues, the public awaits an answer as to whether the Christian symbols will be returned from the landfill to the places where they stood for centuries.
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Source: Novosti