The Paulin Dvor massacre was an act of
mass murder committed by soldiers of the
Croatian Army
The Croatian Army ( hr, Hrvatska kopnena vojska or HKoV) is the largest and most significant component of the Croatian Armed Forces (CAF).
Role and deployment
The fundamental role and purpose of the Croatian Army is to protect vital national i ...
(HV) in the village of
Paulin Dvor, near the town of
Osijek on 11 December 1991 during the
Croatian War of Independence. Of the nineteen victims, eighteen were ethnic
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
, and one was a
Hungarian national. The ages of the victims, eight women and eleven men, ranged from 41 to 85. Two former Croatian soldiers were convicted for their role in the killings and were sentenced to 15 and 11 years, respectively. In November 2010, Croatian
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Ivo Josipović
Ivo Josipović (; born 28 August 1957) is a Croatian academic, jurist, and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2010 to 2015.
Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ), and played a key ...
laid a wreath at the graveyard of the massacre victims and officially apologized for the killings.
Background
In 1990, following the
electoral defeat of the government of the
Socialist Republic of Croatia
The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Socia ...
by the pro-independence
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), relations between ethnic
Croats
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, ...
and
Croatian Serbs
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 Cr ...
deteriorated. In August 1990,
an insurrection took place in
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 ...
centred in predominantly
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
-populated areas of the country. These Serb-inhabited areas were subsequently named
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 ...
. After the Krajina declared its intention to integrate with
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
, the
Government of Croatia declared it to be a rebellion. This conflict escalated into the
Croatian War of Independence by March 1991. In June 1991, Croatia
declared its independence as
Yugoslavia disintegrated. A three-month moratorium followed, after which the decision came into effect on 8 October.
The village of
Paulin Dvor had a population of 168 prior to the war, 147 of whom were ethnic Serbs. The inhabitants of the village were known to support Croatian authorities in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
.
Massacre
On the night of 11 December 1991, Croatian troops entered the village. Nineteen people, eighteen Serbs and one
Hungarian national, were detained in the house of a local man called Andrija Bukvić. Most of the village's 168 residents had already fled. The nineteen victims were detained because they were non-Croats. According to police investigators, the troops became enraged after a Croatian soldier was killed by a Serb sniper in a nearby village. Ten Croatian soldiers are said to have burst into the Bukvić house and murdered all of the detained individuals before destroying the home. The victims died of gunshot wounds and of injuries caused by the
hand grenades that were hurled at them. Seventeen bodies were subsequently moved from the site of the killings. Only the body of Dara Vujanović, whose scalp had been removed, was left behind. The ages of the victims, eight women and eleven men, ranged from 41 to 85.
Aftermath
![16 obljetnica vojnoredarstvene operacije Oluja 04082011 Ivo Josipovic 938](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/16_obljetnica_vojnoredarstvene_operacije_Oluja_04082011_Ivo_Josipovic_938.jpg)
The victims of the massacre were first buried near a military warehouse in
Lug, near the town of
Čepin. The village of Paulin Dvor and its surroundings were seized by
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 ar ...
(JNA) units and Serb paramilitaries soon afterwards. The area remained outside of Croatian control until it was peacefully reintegrated into the country in January 1998. The remains of the massacred villagers were relocated to the village of Rizvanuša near
Gospić
Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje).
Gospić is the ...
in 1997 and remained there until 13 May 2002, when they were exhumed by investigators from the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
In 2005, the
Croatian Supreme Court
, image = Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia.jpg
, imagesize = 220px
, caption = Palace of the Supreme Court is located at the Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square
, established =
, country =
, location = Zagreb
, coordinates =
, type = ...
sentenced Nikola Ivanković, a former soldier who served in the
Croatian Army
The Croatian Army ( hr, Hrvatska kopnena vojska or HKoV) is the largest and most significant component of the Croatian Armed Forces (CAF).
Role and deployment
The fundamental role and purpose of the Croatian Army is to protect vital national i ...
's 130th Brigade, to fifteen years in prison, while in May 2012 the District Court in the town of
Osijek sentenced former Croatian soldier Enes Vitesković to eleven years in prison for his role in the deaths of eighteen people.
In November 2010, Croatian
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Ivo Josipović
Ivo Josipović (; born 28 August 1957) is a Croatian academic, jurist, and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2010 to 2015.
Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ), and played a key ...
laid a wreath at the graveyard of the massacre victims. He said, "those who are left behind those victims deserve our apology" and stated that "a crime has no justification; revenge cannot be justified by a crime." The wreath-laying ceremony came just after
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
n
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Boris Tadić
Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psycholo ...
's visit to
Vukovar
Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...
to commemorate the Croatian victims of the 1991
Vukovar massacre. Part of the Croatian public saw the two visits as key to the reconciliation process, while another part condemned Josipović's comments as an attempt to belittle the Vukovar massacre and an attempt to "relativize the guilt for crimes committed during the war."
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulin Dvor massacre
1991 in Croatia
Massacres in 1991
Croatian war crimes in the Croatian War of Independence
Massacres in Croatia
History of the Serbs of Croatia
Massacres of Serbs
December 1991 events in Europe
1991 crimes in Croatia
1991 murders in Europe
1990s murders in Croatia
Massacres in the Croatian War of Independence