Dalj massacre

In 1990, following the electoral defeat of the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, ethnic tensions in the republic worsened. The Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija – JNA) confiscated Croatia's Territorial Defence (Teritorijalna obrana – TO) weapons to minimize the possibility of resistance following the elections.[1] On 17 August, the tensions escalated into an open revolt of the Croatian Serbs,[2] centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin,[3] parts of the Lika, Kordun, Banovina and eastern Croatia.[4] They established a Serbian National Council in July 1990 to coordinate opposition to Croatian President Franjo Tuđman's policy of pursuing independence for Croatia. Milan Babić, a dentist from the southern town of Knin, was elected president. Knin's police chief, Milan Martić, established paramilitary militias. The two men eventually became the political and military leaders of the SAO Krajina, a self-declared state incorporating the Serb-inhabited areas of Croatia.[5] In March 1991, the SAO Krajina authorities backed by the Serbian government started to consolidate control over Serb-populated areas of Croatia. The move resulted in a bloodless skirmish in Pakrac and the first fatalities in the Plitvice Lakes incident. By early May, the conflict also escalated in the region of eastern Slavonia, culminating in the Battle of Borovo Selo, just to the south of the village of Dalj.[6] On 25–26 June, Croatian Serbs in the eastern Slavonia established the SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (SAO SBWS), declaring it an autonomous political entity.[7]

In the beginning of 1991, Croatia had no regular army and in an effort to bolster its defence, it doubled the number of police personnel to about 20,000. The most effective part of the force was the 3,000-strong special police deployed in twelve battalions adopting military organisation. In addition there were 9,000–10,000 regionally organised reserve police. The reserve police was set up in 16 battalions and 10 companies, but they lacked weapons.[8] By July, the Croatian National Guard (Zbor narodne garde – ZNG) was established, absorbing a part of the special police force reorganised into four professional brigades,[9] and police reserve force of 40,000 ZNG troops. The reserve units did not possess sufficient heavy or small arms to arm all of their personnel.[8]

Vukovar

Erdut

Borovo Selo

Dalj

Vinkovci

Osijek

Bogojevo

Aljmaš

Map of eastern Slavonia area between Osijek and Vukovar (Modern county lines provided for reference)

The general area of the villages of Dalj, Erdut and Aljmaš was targeted by an artillery bombardment between 3:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. on 1 August 1991. Croatian sources indicate that the artillery fire was coming from units assigned to the JNA 51st Mechanised Brigade deployed on the left bank of the Danube River, on the territory of Serbia, as well as the Croatian Serb TO. The JNA report on the events prepared for Croatian authorities denies that the JNA artillery took part in the bombardment, and indicates a somewhat later time of the initial fighting, placing it at 4:10 a.m.[10] Witness testimony given at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) trial of Slobodan Milošević supports the timeline placing the initial combat at 3:00 a.m.[11]

After the artillery fire ceased, the Croatian Serb TO, supported by the Serb Volunteer Guard (SVG) led by Željko Ražnatović,[12] began an infantry assault of Dalj, organised in three groups, from its base in Borovo Selo.[10] One of the groups attacked the police station in Dalj, the second assaulted ZNG positions around water supply building in the village, while the third group remained in reserve.[13] The heaviest fighting took place around the Dalj police station defended by the Croatian police and ZNG personnel. At 6:20 a.m., the Croatian police requested assistance from Osijek police administration and the JNA in terminating the TO attack, citing considerable casualties. The JNA decided to intervene and was ordered to Dalj at 6:50 a.m.[10] The JNA reported receiving gunfire from the ZNG 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Guards Brigade in Erdut as it moved towards 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) of road between Bogojevo and Dalj and returning fire before proceeding to Dalj.[14] Conversely, the ICTY witness of the event claimed the JNA fired against civilian homes in Erdut unprovoked.[15] The JNA units reached the Dalj police station at 9:30 a.m.[14]

JNA and Croatian sources disagree on events immediately following arrival of the JNA in Dalj. While the JNA claimed it requested a cessation of the fire only to be refused by the defenders of the police station,[14] Croatian sources claim the JNA demanded the unconditional surrender of the police and the ZNG, and were refused by the Croatian force. Both versions agree that the combat resumed until approximately 10 a.m.,[16] when three tank main gun rounds, fired by the JNA, hit the police station. While the JNA reported there were no Croatian policemen or ZNG troops captured alive, contradicting its own report stating that the Croatian force located outside the police station accepted cessation of hostilities,[14] the Croatian sources claim that those who surrendered were killed after their capture. Overall, 39 were killed in the fighting for the police station in Dalj—20 policemen, 15 ZNG troops and four civil defencemen.[16]

The same day, several non-Serb civilians were killed in Dalj.[17] In a subsequent round of negotiations with Croatian authorities, the SAO SBWS representatives reported 56 or 57 Croats were killed in Dalj on 1 August.[18] Twenty-five bodies of the victims, including two civilians, were transferred to ZNG-held Osijek. Post-mortem examinations indicated some of the victims were beaten and then executed.[17]

Refugees were evacuated to Osijek by Drava River barges

The Croat population felt intimidated and forced to leave Dalj,[19] as the events of 1 August marked the beginning of a series of attacks against the Croat civilian population in ethnically mixed areas.[20] The bulk of the refugees travelled to Aljmaš, and then were taken by boats and barges along the Drava River to Osijek.[21][22] Persecution of the non-Serb population of Dalj and other nearby villages started in the immediate aftermath of the attack. The persecution included beatings, arbitrary arrests and war rape.[23] The TO units arrested a number of Croat civilians and imprisoned them in Dalj. On 21 September, eleven prisoners were killed by the TO personnel led by Ražnatović, and buried in a mass grave in the village of Ćelije. A further 28 civilians held in Dalj detention facility were tortured and killed by the TO and Ražnatović on 4 October. The bodies of the victims were then dumped in the Danube River.[7][24] At least 135 Croat and non-Serb civilians were killed in this region by May 1992.[25]

In one case, the Serbian Volunteer Guard and the Serbian National Security had beaten and killed Marija Senaši on 3 June 1992.[26]

After the JNA captured Vukovar, it transferred a large number of the inhabitants of the city to the detention facility in Dalj on 20 November. The transfer occurred on the basis of a request by Goran Hadžić, political leader of the SAO SBWS. Those suspected of involvement in the fighting were interrogated and tortured, and at least 35 were executed.[7]

The SAO Krajina was renamed the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) on 19 December, and the SAO SBWS formally joined the RSK on 26 February 1992. After the merger, Hadžić, who had been appointed president of the SAO SBWS on 25 September 1991, assumed the role of the president of the RSK.[7] The events of 1 August 1991 were extensively covered by German media at the time, leading to a public outcry over the massacre.[20] Germany subsequently advocated quick recognition of Croatia, as a means to stop further violence. By late 1991, Germany presented its decision to recognize Croatia as its policy and duty, lobbying the European Economic Community (EEC) diplomats. On 19 December, the German government decided to grant diplomatic recognition to Croatia as the first EEC member state to do so.[27]

In 2013, the Dalj police station was awarded the Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski for heroism. A memorial to the 39 police officers, ZNG troops and civil defencemen killed in Dalj on 1 August 1991 was unveiled at the station on the 22nd anniversary of their death.[28] On 26 November 2013, a memorial to the killed civilians was completed in Dalj.[29]

• Erdut massacre
• List of massacres in Croatia

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