Jean-Michel Nicollier (1 July 1966 – 20 November 1991) was a French volunteer and
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
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, capi ...
n soldier in 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 Yug ...
who was killed in the
Vukovar massacre
The Vukovar massacre, also known as the Vukovar hospital massacre or the Ovčara massacre, was the killing of Croatian prisoners of war and civilians by Serb paramilitaries, to whom they had been turned over by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), ...
.
Early years
Nicollier was born on 1 July 1966 in
Vesoul
Vesoul () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern France.
It is the most populated municipality of the department with inhabitants in 2014. The same year, the Communauté d'aggl ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
to his mother Lyliane Fournier. He was the middle child of three brothers; his brothers are Pierre and Paul. In Vesoul he finished elementary and high school. Nicollier watched the Croatian War of Independence on television in France, and decided to travel to Croatia. He told his mother: In July 1991, he boarded the train and arrived in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
completely alone. There he joined the
Croatian Defence Forces
The Croatian Defence Forces ( hr, Hrvatske obrambene snage or HOS) were the paramilitary arm of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) from 1991 to 1992, during the first stages of the Yugoslav wars. During the Croatian War of Independence, the HOS ...
and was sent off to the front along the
Kupa
The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and ...
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 ...
with the last volunteers. Nicollier fought across the Vukovar battlefields and was wounded twice in the three months he was there. On 9 November 1991 he was wounded in the leg by a
fragmentation grenade
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...
, and was transported to the Vukovar hospital where he was treated for his injuries. Nicollier stayed in the Vukovar hospital until the fall of Vukovar on 18 November 1991.
On 20 November 1991, he was interviewed by a French reporter, Agnes Vahramian, and described his experience in Vukovar as "a slaughterhouse". The same day, he was taken from the hospital 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 ...
and paramilitary Serb forces and transported to the Ovčara farm.
At Ovčara, according to later witness testimonies, a man named Kemo took Nicollier from the hangars, at which point he was viciously beaten, and killed by a gunshot to the head by one Spasoje Petković, who then took 20
francs
The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...
from his pocket.
Nicollier's remains were among sixty not subsequently found. It is possible that they were initially disposed of in shallow graves, which caused them to be uncovered by the following spring and then thrown elsewhere, or that they were thrown into the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
.
Legacy
In 2006 Nicollier was posthumously awarded the Memorial Plaque ''Vukovar 1991''.
In 2010, Croatian authors Višnja Starešina and Ivan Maloča released a documentary about the Vukovar massacre, telling the story of
Siniša Glavašević
Siniša Glavašević (4 November 1960 – 20 November 1991HRT on the 19th anniversary of the massacre.
Prompted by the publicity Nicollier's case received in 2010, a Croatian veteran Antun Ivanković from
Tovarnik
Tovarnik (, sr-Cyrl, Товарник, hu, Felsőtárnok, german: Sankt Georg, la, Ulmo) is a municipality in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in Croatia next to the border with Serbia with the town of Šid and the village of Ilinci on the other ...
joined with Nevenka Nekić, a retired professor, to investigate the story, and contacted Nicollier's mother. In October 2011, Ivanković found that Nicollier was never entered into the official list of Croatian defenders, and advocated for the problem to be rectified; the Ministry of Veterans' Affairs entered Nicollier into the Registry not long afterwards.
On 17 November 2011, at the initiative of an NGO led by Ivanković, Nicollier was posthumously awarded with the
Vukovar-Srijem 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 ...
"Tribute for love, loyalty and bravery in 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 Yug ...
". That same day, Nicollier was awarded with the Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski for heroism. Nicollier's mother came to Zagreb with his younger brother Paul, to receive the order from Croatia's President
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 ...
.
In June 2012, the NGO published Nekić's book ''Jean ili miris smrti'' (''Jean or the smell of death'') about Nicollier. In August 2012, again at the initiative of Ivanković's NGO, Nicollier's mother met the Croatian Minister of Veterans' Affairs Predrag Matić, who confirmed she was entitled to the veteran's pension of her late son.
In May 2013 citizens of Vukovar decided by
internet voting
Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or take care of casting and counting ballots.
Depending on the particular implementation, e-voting may use standalone ''electronic voting machines'' ( ...