07.10.2010.
Marking 95th anniversary of WWI defense of Belgrade
At the memorial dedicated to Belgrade defenders at New cemetery in Belgrade today, a commemoration was held to mark 95 years of the liberation of Belgrade in WWI in 1915.On that occasion, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej consecrated the renewed military memorial and the memorial to the victims of the war. Minister of defense Dragan Sutanovac laid a commemorative wreath on behalf of the Government.
Following the ceremonious barrage, some of the remains were laid to rest in the mausoleum memorial at the New Cemetery and thus, symbolically marked the completion of the restoration of the memorial, which started in the 2005.
The wreaths were also laid by the Serbian Army General Staff Chief General Lieutenant Miloje Miletic, the representatives of organizations dedicated to fostering the tradition of liberation wars and Belgrade. This ceremony was attended by many foreign military attaches and representatives of the diplomatic corps as well.
"Heroes live forever," as Patriarch Irinej said" are the words with which he began his address to the audience."This sacred time was dedicated to those who bravely and resolutely defended their homeland and their city with the willingness and readiness to lay down their life for freedom and the well-being of my people," he said, adding that today we remember a glorious epic feat and a small groups of warriors outnumbered by the enemy. Under the leadership of the famous Commander Major Gavrilovic, who told them not to fear, as they have already been erased their regiment’s register book. "Today we remember their sacrifice and the love they have shown not only by words but also their lives, as the greatest sign of evidence," said Patriarch Irinej, adding that these soldiers sacrificed their own states, cities and shrines, for what is most sacred and magnificent. In this way, he said, not only had they fulfilled the duty to their motherland, but also the main evangelical duty, which indicates that there is no greater love and sacrifice than to die for the motherland and their loved ones.
"We will live with the memory of these brave warriors who gave us the greatest example of how to love our country and how to love freedom, the greatest gift from God. They all laid their lives defending the borders of their countries
"Today, we are standing here besides this reconstructed monument to Belgrade defenders marking a time when people died honorably defending their city. Here the remains of thousands of thedefendersof the captal were laid to rest, the remains of those who went to war knowing that their names had already been deleted from the book of living" , said Sutanovac adding that this year we celebrate this great victories and defeat s of humanity. A year earlier, he recalled, a great victory of Cer was won with 1600 killed Serbian soldiers in World War I, the largest armed conflict of the time, when one in eight casualties was a member of the Serbian people."Serbia then not only fought for the freedom of its people, but for the freedom of the whole world. Crowned with glory, it then was affiliated with the Allies who liberated Europe," said the Minister of Defense. He added that today, after so many years, a question arises whether some of the battles could have been avoided and whether these battles could have been fought differently. Some could and should have certainly been avoided , the minister said, adding that this would mean that today we would have more children.
"Serbia in the 21st century wants to be peaceful, to extend a hand of friendship. Our country is no longer an enemy and wants to be a force of stability in the southeastern Europe," said the minister, expressing satisfaction that there is great sympathy for our military in the region.
"We want to march towards new victories," the minister said, "but not those paid in blood on the battlefield, but in education , science, knowledge, sport, culture," adding that it is our obligation to preserve the memories of our forefathers who died for freedom, but that itis our obligation to them, too, that we should be educated and to engage in a fight with knowledge, not only through weapons.Mausoleum was built in 1931 and was designed by the Russian architect Roman Verhovskoya at the highest point of the New Cemetery, where the Serbian military cemetery had previously been. At this point the remains of 3,529 identified and 1074 unidentified brave liberators of Belgrade were laid here.
At the top of the pedestal is the figure of a Serbian soldier, while the pedestal shows the Austro-Hungarian and German double-headed eagle as a symbol of victory of the Serbian Army in World War II. The mausoleum was renovated in 2005 under the program for revitalization of significant immovable cultural monuments.
The ceremony ended with artistic program dedicated to Major Dragutin Gavrilovic that in 1915 led the heroic defense of Belgrade.
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