Antin 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 ...

located 18 km northwest of

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surrounde ...

Vukovar-Syrmia County Vukovar-Srijem County ( hr, Vukovarsko-srijemska županija), Vukovar-Sirmium County or Vukovar-Syrmia County, named after the eponymous town of Vukovar and the region of Syrmia, is the easternmost Croatian county. It includes the eastern parts of ...

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 ...

. Population 731 (census 2011).

History

Croatian War of Independence

During 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 ...

, access to Antin was cut after insurgent

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 ...

s blocked the road between

Markušica Markušica ( sr-Cyrl, Маркушица, hu, Márkusfalva, german: Sankt Markus) is a village and a municipality in Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. Markušica is located south of the river Vuka and northwest of the town of Vinkovci. ...

and Antin on 6 April 1991. Serb troops acting as a part of Markušica Territorial Defense Forces (TO) launched several attacks on Antin. The first mortar attacks were recorded on 1 and 2 September 1991, followed up by a machine gun attack on civilians attempting to flee from Antin, and another mortar attack the following day. Mortar attacks were renewed on 29 September, followed by an infantry advance into Antin and capture if the village by 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 the TO troops on 30 September. After the capture, the TO fired mortar rounds against civilian population fleeing towards the village of Korog. At that time, 27 civilians were killed and 10 injured. 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 ...

containing the victims was discovered in the village in 1999, and a total of 17 sets of human remains were recovered in Antin 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 State Attorney's office filed charges for war crimes committed in Antin in 1991, reportedly against a Croatian Serb TO officer. Today the President of the Republic of Serbia

Tomislav Nikolic Tomislav (, ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, that is widespread amongst the South Slavs. The meaning of the name ''Tomislav'' is thought to have derived from the Old Slavonic verb "'' tomiti''" or "'' tomit" meaning to "''languish ...

was in Antin at the time of the killings of civilians. The role of Nikolic in Antin never clarified.

Footnotes

References

* {{Villages of Vukovar-Syrmia County Populated places in Vukovar-Syrmia County Populated places in Syrmia