Varivode 28 September 1995 - The execution of 9 old people

The massacre in Varivode became a symbol of the post-Storm crimes - old people who believed the guaranteed safety, killed in cold blood.

Varivode - geography and population

Location:

• A village 15 km north-east of Knin
• Municipality of Knin, Dalmatia
• A small village - ~300 inhabitants before the war

• Most of the Serbs fled on 4-5 August
• About 30 old people remained (they could not/would not flee)
• Isolated, without electricity, without contact with the world

28 September 1995 - The day of the massacre

Morning - The arrival of the Croatian military police

Around 10:00:

• A detachment of the Croatian military police (4th Guards Brigade) arrived in the village
• Commander: Unknown (never identified)
• Number of soldiers: ~10-15

Using a megaphone they called on the Serbs to come out of their houses: "Do not be afraid. We will not do anything to you. Surrender, you will be safe. Go towards the centre of the village."

Gathering

9 old people came out:

• They believed the guaranteed safety
• They thought they would be driven to a refugee camp
• They gathered at the main crossroads of the village

1. Jovan Berić (85 years old):

• The oldest - a war veteran from WWII (a Partisan)
• A widower, his son and grandchildren fled to Serbia
• He remained because he could not endure the journey (he was ill)

2. Dmitar Berić (62 years old):

• The brother of Ilija Berić
• He remained to care for his older relatives

3. Ilija Berić (70 years old):

• An invalid - an operated leg
• He could not walk without a crutch

4. Sava Berić (62 years old):

• A farmer, spent his whole life in the village

5. Petar Damjanović (76 years old):

• A widower, children in Belgrade
• He did not want to leave the land

6. Sava Milić (67 years old):

• A pensioner

7. Jovan Rašeta (72 years old):

• A war veteran

8. Đuro Sarap (61 years old):

• The youngest among those killed

9. Nikola Vujnović (64 years old):

• He remained to guard the property

The execution

Around 10:30:

• The soldiers separated the 9 old people
• They led them ~100 metres from the main crossroads
• They ordered them to lie down in a ditch beside the road
• THEY OPENED FIRE WITH AUTOMATIC RIFLES
• All were killed on the spot

• The soldiers doused the bodies with petrol
• They set them on fire
• The aim: To destroy the traces, to make identification more difficult

Other Serbs in the village

About 20 more Serbs were in the village:

• They hid in the houses, the forests
• They heard the gunfire
• They saw the smoke from the burning bodies
• They realised what had happened - they remained hidden

• None of them came out after the massacre
• They hid for days
• They were later evacuated by the UN

The discovery of the massacre

October 1995 - UN investigation

UNCIVPOL (UN civilian police):

• Received a report from surviving Serbs
• Sent a team to the scene (2 October)

• Charred bodies at the place the survivors described
• 9 bodies - badly damaged by fire
• Casings from automatic weapons
• Traces of petrol

• All killed by firearms (automatic rifles)
• Killed before the burning (they did not burn alive)
• Range before death: close range (an execution)

Identification of the victims

DNA analysis (1996-1997):

• The families gave DNA samples
• 8 of the 9 victims identified
• 1 remained unidentified (too damaged)

Croatian reaction - denial and minimisation

Official version

The Croatian MUP (Ministry of the Interior):

• "They were soldiers in civilian clothes"
• "They died in combat operations"
• "There is no evidence of an execution"

• Victims aged 61-85 - too old to be soldiers
• No weapons found at the scene
• The bodies were burned - why, if it was a "battle"?
• The UN forensic team confirmed: EXECUTION, not a battle

The Croatian government - a promise of investigation

1995-1996:

• Under pressure from the UN, they promised an investigation
• A commission was formed

• NO ONE WAS ARRESTED
• NO ONE WAS CHARGED
• The investigation "continues" (2025 - 30 years later)

The Hague Tribunal - Varivode as evidence

ICTY (Prosecutor v. Gotovina et al.)

The prosecutor uses Varivode as KEY EVIDENCE:

• An example of systematic violence after Storm
• Evidence of a "joint criminal enterprise"
• A connection with the command (the commanders knew and allowed it)

• "It was an isolated incident"
• "The command did not know"
• "Those responsible have not been identified - how can we stop someone if we do not know who it is?"

• The court ACCEPTED the prosecution's argument
• Varivode IS PART of a systematic pattern
• Gotovina and Markač CONVICTED

• The court REJECTED the prosecution's argument
• Varivode is an "isolated incident"
• No evidence that the command knew
• Gotovina and Markač ACQUITTED

The significance of Varivode

A symbol of the post-Storm crimes

Varivode became a symbol because:

• Guaranteed safety - and then killed
• Old people - the most vulnerable, helpless
• Destruction of evidence - the burning of the bodies
• Impunity - no one punished 30 years later

Number of similar cases

Varivode is NOT isolated:

• Similar massacres: Grubori (6 killed), Gošići (4 killed), Pađene (3 killed)
• In total: 50+ documented massacres of small groups
• UN: "A pattern of systematic violence"

Families of the victims - without justice

Milka Berić (daughter of Jovan Berić)

"My father was 85 years old. He was a Partisan in the Second World War - he fought against the fascists. And then he was killed by soldiers who guaranteed him safety. No one was ever held accountable. That is not justice. That is a disgrace."

Branko Vujnović (son of Nikola Vujnović)

"For 30 years we have been waiting for justice. For 30 years they tell us 'the investigation continues'. We know who is guilty - the Croatian Army. We know where it happened - Varivode. But no one is held accountable. Why? Because they are the victors. The victors are not held accountable."

Today - Varivode empty

The situation today (2025):

• The village is empty - it has no inhabitants at all
• Houses in ruins
• Nature has taken over the village
• A memorial plaque was placed in 2005 (a private initiative)
• No one has returned

"Varivode became a symbol of what happened in the Krajina after Storm: guaranteed safety that became an execution, justice that did not come, a memory that is fading." - Veritas, 2015.