Varivode ( sr-cyr, Вариводе) is a village in the municipality of

Kistanje Kistanje ( hr, Kistanje, hr, sr-Cyrl, Кистање) is a village and municipality in Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia. Geography Kistanje is located in the microregion of Bukovica, in Zagora. Kistanje is from county seat Šibenik, from Knin a ...

Šibenik-Knin County Šibenik-Knin County (; hr, Šibensko-kninska županija ) is a county in southern Croatia, located in the north-central part of Dalmatia. The biggest city in the county is Šibenik, which also serves as county seat. Other notable towns in the co ...

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 ...

. In the aftermath of

Operation Storm }) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state R ...

in 1995 the village was the site of the

Varivode massacre The Varivode massacre was a mass killing that occurred on 28 September 1995 in the village of Varivode, Croatia during the Croatian War of Independence. According to United Nations officials, soldiers of the Croatian Army (HV) and Croatian police ...

History

Prior to 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 ...

(1991–1995), Varivode was part of the municipality of

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

, and according to the census of 1991, it had a population of 477. During the war, Varivode and its surroundings were occupied by the self-proclaimed

Republic of Serbian Krajina The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sh, Република Српска Крајина, italics=no / or РСК / ''RSK'', ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, ...

. On 28 September 1995, almost two months after

, men in Croatian military uniforms and armed civilians killed between 9 and 12 elderly Serb civilians, some of whom were disabled. In 2010, a monument was erected in the village to commemorate the civilians killed in the massacre. It was damaged in April 2010. The monument was later reconstructed, and in October 2010, inaugurated in the presence of the

President of Croatia The president of Croatia, officially the President of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the ...

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 ke ...

, and Serbia's Minister for the Diaspora, Mlađan Đorđević. The inscription on the monument reads: "To the innocent and brutally murdered villagers of Varivode from 28 September 1995" ( sr-Cyrl, Недужним и мучки убијеним мјештанима Варивода 28. 9. 1995.). In 2020, the

Prime Minister of Croatia , type = Head of Government , member_of = , reports_to = Croatian Parliament , appointer = Croatian Parliament , nominator = President of Croatia , termlength = At the pleasure of the parliamentary majority. Parliamentary elections must be h ...

Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Croatia since 19 October 2016. He was previously one of eleven Croatian members of the European Parliament, serving from Croatia's ...

, and representatives of the country’s Serb minority commemorated the 25th anniversary of the massacre. Every year during the summer months, Varivode receives Serbs from around the world who return to their place of origin. The village's patron saint is St. Elias ( sr, Sveti Ilija, italics=yes), celebrated on 2 August.

Demographics

In the

2011 Croatian census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Varivode had 124 inhabitants. According to

2001 Croatian census The demographic characteristics of the population of Croatia are known through censuses, normally conducted in ten-year intervals and analysed by various statistical bureaus since the 1850s. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics has performed this t ...

, Varivode had 93 inhabitants. In 1991, there were 477 inhabitants, out of whom 472 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 ...

.
:

References

Populated places in Šibenik-Knin County Serb communities in Croatia {{ŠibenikKnin-geo-stub

History

Demographics

See also

References