The 81st anniversary of the killing of 208 Serbs was marked today in Draksenić outside Kozarska Dubica. They were killed in the church by Ustashas on January 14 /Small Christmas/, 1942
On this occasion, a liturgy was celebrated in the Church of the Holy Apostle Mark in Draksenić, and then a memorial service was held and wreaths were laid on the foundations of the old conserved church.
Saša Tošanović, a parish priest of Demirovac and Draksenić, recalled the terrible crime committed in 1942 by the Ustashas from Jasenovac, assisted by the Home Guards from Gradina, Ćuklinac, and Draksenić, who tricked the bare-handed people, old men, women, and children into the church.
“They gathered the people in the church and then the bloody feast known as the `bloody liturgy’ began. They stabbed them with bayonets and military axes, and there were other elements of violence that should have been widely known for their bestiality because seven girls were raped in the church and that’s why this heinous crime has elements of Satanism”, priest Tošanović said.
He says that the Ustashas failed in their intention to exterminate the Serbian people in this area, even though blood was spilling over the threshold of the church at the time.
“Seven days before the crime, the killed civilians, women, and children celebrated the Nativity of Christ in the church where they were killed, and everyone who was born with Christ will resurrect with Christ”, Tošanović said.
He has said that one should not take revenge, but that we should remember and stand steadfastly with the outstretched hand of reconciliation.
From January 13 to 15, 1942, about 800 Ustasha from Jasenovac, led by the infamous Maks Luburić, with the help of the Home Defense Army from Gradina, Ćuklinac, and Draksenić, slaughtered around 360 Serbs, among whom there were women and children.
The greatest massacre was carried out by the Ustashas in the church in the village of Draksenić, where 208 Serbs were killed.
Srpska Republika News Agency (SRNA)
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