Ćelije sometimes also referred to as Ćelija, is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in eastern

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

located west of Trpinja and south of the

Osijek Airport Osijek Airport ( hr, Zračna luka Osijek; ) is the international airport of Osijek, Croatia. It is located 20 km east southeast of Osijek and is situated near the Osijek – Vukovar regional road, southwest of the eponymous village of Klisa ...

. The population is 121 (census 2011).

Name

The name of the village in Croatian is plural.

History

Croatian War of Independence

On 7 July 1991, during the initial stages of the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

, the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

(JNA) and

SAO Krajina The Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Srpska autonomna oblast Krajina, Српска аутономна област Крајина) or SAO Krajina () was a self-proclaimed Serbian autonomous region (oblast) wit ...

militia forced evacuation of the ethnic-

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

population of the village—180 residents. The evacuation happened in the aftermath of a JNA tank and mortar attack on the

Croatian National Guard The Croatian National Guard ( hr, Zbor narodne garde or ZNG) was an armed force established by Croatia in April and May 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although it was established within the framework of the Ministry of the Interi ...

(ZNG) on 4 July, resulting in death of three ZNG troops. The confrontation was over control over Ćelije. Several days after the evacuation, the village was torched—the first such instance in the war. Eleven civilians killed in Erdut by SAO Krajina authorities in early November 1991 were buried in a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

in Ćelije. ,

Goran Hadžić Goran Hadžić ( sr-cyrl, Горан Хаџић, ; 7 September 1958 – 12 July 2016) was a war criminal and a nationalist politician of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, in office during the Croatian War of Independence. He was ...

, one of

Croatian Serb The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croa ...

political leaders at the time, is on trial at the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

. Hadžić faced charges related to the killings and other war crimes committed in 1990s but died before a verdict could be reached.

UNTAES protectorate and subsequent period

Ćelije were left in ruins until 1998, when a part of the refuged population returned, upon return of the area to Croatian control through the

Erdut Agreement The Erdut Agreement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Erdutski sporazum, Ердутски споразум), officially the Basic Agreement on the Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium, was an agreement reached on 12 November 1 ...

, at the end of the

United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium The United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) was a UN peacebuilding transitional administration in the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia in the eastern parts of Croatia ...

mandate. That year, a

containing victims killed after capture of the village was destroyed near the village, and a total of 32 sets of human remains were recovered in the village by 2012. Since 2002, a memorial procession is held annually through

Tordinci Tordinci ( hu, Valkótard) is a village and a municipality in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in Croatia. Tordinci is underdeveloped municipality which is statistically classified as the First Category Area of Special State Concern by the Government ...

, Antin, Ćelije and Korog—villages where mass graves of 266 Croatian soldiers and civilians were found after the war. In 2011, Croatian authorities opened an investigation against Boro Ivanović, commanding officer of the JNA 12th Proletarian Mechanised Brigade in 1991, in connection with 1991 expulsion of population and destruction of the village.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celije, Croatia Populated places in Vukovar-Syrmia County Populated places in Syrmia

Name

History

Croatian War of Independence

UNTAES protectorate and subsequent period

See also

References