21.10.2021.
President Vučić Led Ceremony of World War II Victims Remembrance Day
Today, in memorial park “Kragujevac October” in Šumarice, President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić led the ceremony of marking World War II Victims Remembrance Day and 80th anniversary of mass execution of civilians in Kragujevac. The ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović PhD.
After public prayer and memorial service for the victims, served by Bishop of Šumadija Jovan with priests, President Vučić laid a wreath at the monument “V3” erected on the place where on 21st October 1941 the German occupation forces executed students and professors of Kragujevac Grammar School.
In memory of the suffering of the innocent civilians in Kragujevac, the traditional “Great School Lesson” during which a poem by Duško Radović “Black Days” was performed. This is the first poem written especially for this event, and it was performed for the first time in 1971.
The mass killing of the civilians in Kragujevac is considered to be one of the greatest crimes of the German Army in the Second World War. The execution was carried out on 19th, 20th and 21st October. The Museum “21st October” possesses information about 2,796 shot civilians among whom 300 were young men and children from the age of 12 to 20, including students of the First and Second Grammar School and Teaching School, and young men who worked in Military Technical Facility.
