Vukowar

The beautiful old city has been totally destroyed and it resembles the Warsaw of 1945. Out of its 45,000 inhabitants, some ten thousand have saw it liberated. They have all spent the past three months in cellars and are having difficulties getting accustomed to the daylight. Vukovar, the city where the former Croatian Communist Party won at the elections had the misfortune of being the first to experience the ultimate consequence of the ideological and nationalist intoxication. The images of the defeated Vukovar are the images of our future.

* Scene 1: In the access street to the city which is around two kilometres long where no house is worth the trouble of repairing.Scene 2: A demolished house in Vukovar with the single remaining wall and a door with the placard: "A Serbian house - don't touch!" A file of twenty soldiers is passing through. The various helmets: the standard Army helmet, the parachute ones, the plastic military police ones... The signs on them: "Black Mamba", "Rangers", "Ninja", "The silent liquidation team", all in cyrillic. Our reporter and a group of journalists cross the street. A soldier cries out: "Careful, there are snipers, there is a sniper firing at this". "This" is a string which has been laid across the street. "They think it is our telecom cable, so they wish to destroy it. We keep it there since it helps us find out their positions". And the sniper serenade goes on. Scene 3: the scene from the front line: a room with just the bare essentials. A group of six irregulars is firing out of the window. They offer us coffee and brandy, everything seems to be in perfect order, but the Croatians are only 50 meters away, just out of the window. We are sitting, sipping our drinks and talking; from time to time an irregular stands up and fires a long rifle through the window, then comes back to pick up where we left off.Scene 4: The Catholic and the Orthodox churches are right here, at the front line, one across the other. The Catholic church is full of Croatians and the Orthodox church serves as a refuge for the Army and us, the journalists. Everybody is standing next to the window and firing incessantly; each of them is holding two guns which they are changing when the barrel is overheated. The girls are chambering the guns at the altar, while Jesus is looking upon us, crucified.Scene 5: The refugee centre in Vukovar in the "liberated zone". Ljubinko, a kind man with sad eyes, who is in charge of it, explains to us that they are accommodating all the civilians regardless of their religion and nationality, but we could see that the entire staff is made up of the Seselj's (the leader of the Serbian Radical Party and a Serbian extremist) extremists.Scene 6: A major tells us: "The Army has nothing to hide and it wants the journalists to photograph the most interesting details". Then he adds: "This is why we won't let anyone leave the press-centre until the Army decides which are the most interesting sights".Scene 7: The irregulars, led by the local territorials are systematically searching the houses. One of the irregulars is carrying only a long knife. "Where is your gun?"; "This is my sole weapon", he replies. A sixteen-year old simply says: "I have killed a lot of them", and doesn't brag about it.Scene 8: A special envoy of the UN Secretary General Cyrus Vance arrives in Vukovar. He is being driven in the armoured transporter four times along the same, mostly preserved area close to the Army barracks. Major Slivancanin is explaining to Mr. Vance in front of the barracks: "As you can see, this area is unsuitable for living, all the windows are broken. Just imagine how the young men inside must feel". It is clear that the city has been devastated, so Cyrus Vance listens to him with the stony expression. "I would like to see the centre of the city", says Mr. Vance. "The fighting is still going on there, so we can't take you there", says the major. "May be somebody else can if you can't", says Mr. Vance wearing the same expression.Scene 9: On Monday November 18, we watch a group of around 2000 people get in the buses. They are all Croatians who do not know where they are going.Scene 10: Vucedol, a place some four kilometres away from Vukovar, a village path and a huge line up of people of all ages with carrier bags containing the essentials are waiting. They are being searched by the military police, kindly and with much consideration. There are armed men to be found among them who are taking leave of their weapons. A strange air of relative calm can be detected. A soldier is offering water, canned food and bread to everyone. "How do you feel now that it is over?", asks one journalist. "What is over?", replies a woman. "Our house has been demolished, we have nothing left, they are taking us God knows where. And let me tell you another thing: we have been beaten up and bombarded to such an extent that I think we have all lost our senses. We are not normal". Then again vehemently: "What is over?" The soldier offers her a can and she bitterly retorts: "Go to hell and take the can with you!" A young man standing behind her says: "What am I to do with a can when you've taken the can opener!"