HRT: JNA Occupation of the Plitvice Region

Call Number
350-1-1:484/1

General information

Call No.:
350-1-1:484/1
Part of series
HU OSA 350-1-1 Records of the International Monitor Institute: Europe: Balkan Archive
Located at
BetaSP NTSC #484 / No. 1
Digital ver. identifier
HU_OSA_00000484
Date of production
1993
Date
1993
Level
Item
Primary Type
Moving image
Language
Croatian
Duration
31 min.
Notes
Beta and VHS

Content

Form/Genre
Television program
Contents Summary
This documentary details how the JNA occupied towns and villages in the Plitivice region of Croatia. The report begins by highlighting a meeting of the "Plitvice" organization workers which was obstructed by the JNA. The narrator points out that a later meeting of ethnic Serbs where Vojislav Seselj and Milan Babic were the guest speakers was not forced to disperse. The report further explains that all of the Croat villages in the Plitvice area have been occupied by the JNA, and that people are being taken to Korenica and Knin for interrogations. The report shows Tomislav Strk, the mayor of Slunj, asking for help in stopping the JNA occupation. The issue of many residents setting up defense groups is discussed by explaining that they are not strong enough to fight against the well-equipped JNA, and that many civilians are forced to become refugees. One of the refugee camps, Grabovac, is pointed out as having suffered an attack by the JNA, resulting in the death of three children. The report cites the numbers of people killed in the first couple of months of the blockade of the Plitvice villages: Rastovaca: 2, Poljanak: 17, Smoljanac: 14, Catrna: 7, Korana: 3 children, Dreznicko Seliste: 15, Drezni Grad: 9, Irinovac: 4, Lipovaca: 14, Vaganac: 8, and Saborski: 48. Further highlighted are the various air attacks on Cetingrad and Slunj areas, which produced the following casualties: Rakovica: 21, Slunj: 20, Cvitovic: 15, Ladjevac: 47, and Cetinjgrad: 31. Throughout the report, Major Vladimir Katic, of the Croatian Home Defense Guards, gives a detailed description of how the JNA established a blockade of the Plitvice region, and what roads were taken by refugees trying to get away from the fighting. The report closes with Reverend Mile Pecic who briefly explains the role of the priesthood in supporting the people. Statements are made by JNA Deputy Commander Andrija Raseta (?), a local unidentified man and woman, the Mayor of Saborski village, local resident defender Ivica Kukuruzovic, and Halil Dzubran, who reads a patriotic poem. Other footage includes soldiers shooting in the winter, Croatian soldiers arresting several men who are referred to as "terrorists," JNA equipment and soldiers in the Plitvice region, children helping in the making of sand bags, JNA tanks driving at night, landscapes of the Plitivice region, shot-out vehicles, a dead body wrapped in a blanket, soldiers carrying a wounded man, Croatian police officers in the Yugoslav police uniforms, the body of Rade Keca, refugees arriving at the Grabovac camp, destroyed catholic churches, destroyed houses, Croatian home defense guards getting organized, doctor Krusic taking care of a wounded person, landscapes of Slunj, and people sitting for a Catholic mass.

Context

Associated Names
Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) (Producer)