Prijedor, Memorial Kevljani 2005
Oct 8, 2015 | civilians, Monument, predominantly Bosniaks, wars 1991-95
Oct 8, 2015 | civilians, Monument, predominantly Bosniaks, wars 1991-95
At this site
a mass grave with 146 bodies
of innocent victims was found.
Two hundred meters further
is the largest mass grave
found in Bosanska Krajina
Stari Kevljani
with 456 victims
from the Prijedor Municipality.
A memorial will be
placed here in memory
of the victims exhumated in
Kevljani
Kevljani, 6 August 2007
***
In the spring of 1992
this area was overcome
by a rule of neighbourly
terror against the other
against those that are different.
Age-old hearths
were put out in fires,
infamous camps
were opened, school friends
and work colleagues became
murderers, and the stifled
cries of their victims
the barren Bosnian soil
buried.
In three graves
in Kevljani
complete or partial remains
were found
of 605 persons
1998: 2, 1999: 147, and 2004: 456
bodies.
In eternal memory of the victims,
and to the living
may their extinguished lives serve as warning
that history teaches us
to be better people and
and not to hate or seek
revenge.
(names of the victims with the following information: father‘s name and age at time of death)
Civilian victims, predominantly Keraterm and Omarska camp prisoners
In the yard of the mosque, but this is also the site of the mass grave. Location selected by a committee made up mostly of people from the local Islamic community.
Financed by the villagers, with donations from people from other parts of the Prijedor Municipality. Procedure run through the Majlis of the Islamic Community in Kozarac.
"The space of the memorial tomb in Kevljani must be a contemplative space, a place where the feeling and thoughts of visitors should be awakened to the tragedy of human cruelty and the cold-bloodedness of observers that took place here. The monument must express respect for those who lost there lives here, and enter the consciousness and conscience of humanity as a constant reminder and warning. That is why it is important that sites of mass graves commemorate the tragedies that took place, but also to highlight that each mass grave must also be a symbol of resistance to national-fascism and racism.
In addition, the Monumnet in Kevljani, with its spiritual and aesthetic value should be an incentive for development of this area and attract many visitors." ‘Spomen obilježje Kevljani 2005’, 21 october 2005, http://kozarac.ba/article151.html (Last site access 18 february 2015)