Jedan zapis uz Sedmi april
A note on the 7th of April

Summary/Abstract: Nearly a thousand citizens of Gračanica died during the Second World War, soldiers and civilians included. The graves of many of those are unknown. In the regime and socio-political system that was being built after the war, many of these victims and sufferers were forgotten and the remembrance silenced – especially those that lost their lives outside of the context expressed by ideological categories, fallen fighters of the “People’s Liberation Struggle” and “Victims of fascist terror”. Only recently, after more than 50 years the research efforts of the “Gračanički glasnik” and its associates shed light on the extent of these casualties and the names of most victims (951 people in total) who lost their lives on different sides and in different circumstances. Heeding a basic civilized regard, our magazine thus revived these people as well. However, writing about these victims of the war we only barely touched upon the fate of their families and relatives. Many of these never learned anything about the circumstances in which their loved ones suffered, especially those that “departed” and never came back. Their basic human right to remember and honor were denied, but they were also deprived of many other things in these cruel and gloomy post-war years. Many such families lived in very poor conditions, without any income and help, under constant pressure and attack of the regime which considered them a hostile element… Their drama would still need to be researched, described and illuminated, although most of them are not part of this world anymore, taking with them their unrepentant pain for the victims and never-extinguished hope that they might return one day. Nevertheless, we have the opportunity to publish such a testimony here. Mahmut Đulić from Gračanica lost his father, who was forcibly mobilized the day before the partisans entered Gračanica (7th April). Thus he left his house and hometown forever. That 7th of April marks the beginning of very hard times for the family of the missing Hazim Đulić. Mahmut Đulić wrote down his memories of that specific day, prompted by modern commemorations on the 7th of April. We decided to share his record with our readers.

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