Balkan Repository Project

Scott Taylor

THE TORONTO SUN, Thursday, June 3, 1999 NEWS p. 29

BELGRADE - It was a mournful procession that wound its way through the Bezanija cemetery in suburban New Belgrade on Monday.

Hundreds of grieving relatives stopped at the ceremonial fountain to wash their hands prior to leaving the burial ground.

Orthodox Custom

In the Serbian Orthodox religion, this custom is meant to cleanse away the sorrow, so that it may remain part of the funeral and be left behind at the cemetery.

However, with the air raid sirens wailing once again in the distance, the tear-stained faces of those exiting the ceremony showed little sign of having put their recent loss to rest.

Two young children, Stefan, aged eight, and his four-year-old sister Dajana (Diana), had been killed by a NATO bomb just three days earlier. Such a tragic loss of young life is not easily overcome, even in wartime.

Given the circumstances surrounding the deaths, this was emotionally one of the toughest assignments I've ever had.

The Finnish journalist wept quietly throughout the proceedings and, as the father of a four-year-old myself, I admit that I lost it a little when, as they lowered Diana.s tiny coffin, the grandmother screamed out her name with a soulful cry.

The parents of these children were not on hand for the funeral due to being hospitalized with their own injuries suffered in the same errant bomb attack.

The explosion occurred around 11 pm last Thursday, with Stefan and Diana already in bed. Neightbours say that although badly injured herself, the children'. mother, Branislava, screamed hysterically for the rescue crews to dig out her "babies." They say Branislava had mercifully sunk into unconsciousness before they managed to dig Diana.s badly mutilated corpse out of the smoldering rubble. It took further three hours to retrieve Stefan.s equally battered body.

The father, Vladimir Pavlovic, received burns to 60% of his body and remains in intensive care at a Belgrade hospital. Although unfit physically to attend the funeral, Vladimir is conscious and aware that his children are dead, his wife remains in coma (she is currently on life support system) and his home has been destroyed.

Through an interpreter, a family member said it was only two weeks earlier that Vladimir had moved his family out of Belgrade to the rural village of Ralja so they would be safe from NATO bombing.

The small town of Ralja contains no industrial, let alone military targets. As has become the norm, NATO labelled the attack "a regrettable mistake."

While the mood at the burial was never tense, with emotions running high I was a little concerned about the crowd.s reaction should they discover I was from a NATO country participating in the air strikes. When one individual did approach me, my fears proved unfounded.

Thanks Offered

Instead of confronting or berating me, he politely thanked me for making the effort to attend the funeral. He explained that "the people of Canada must see this. They must know what the bombing is doing.

Scott Taylor, editor of Esprit de Corps magazine, and author of Tested Mettle, reports from war-torn Yugoslavia.