PHOTOS: Jean-Michel Nicolier buried in Vukovar
- by croatiaweek
- in News
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
ZAGREB, 7 Nov (Hina) – The remains of Croatian war veteran and French volunteer Jean-Michel Nicolier were buried at the Homeland War Memorial Cemetery in Vukovar on Thursday, in the presence of his family, fellow soldiers, friends, government representatives and a large number of citizens.
His remains were exhumed from a mass grave at Ovčara, discovered last autumn about a hundred metres from the hangar where he was tortured alongside other captured Croatian soldiers and civilians following the fall of Vukovar on 18 November 1991.
In a commemorative address, War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved said that Nicolier’s name is woven into the very foundations of Croatia’s freedom.
“We stand in silence and with deep respect before a man whose name is woven into the very foundations of Croatian freedom. Before Jean-Michel Nicolier, a knight of the Homeland War, a man who, out of love for truth and freedom, love for Croatia, gave the most precious thing he had — his life,” Medved said.
Branko Borković, the last commander of Vukovar’s defence, emphasised that Nicolier did not die defending Vukovar but was forcibly taken from the Vukovar hospital and brutally killed at Ovčara by “Serbian and Yugoslav-communist forces”.
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
“Who are those who today question the symbols we carried, how we saluted and the way we armed ourselves and joined defence forces?” he said, thanking Nicolier’s mother for choosing to have her son rest in Vukovar, “among the martyrs of the Homeland War”.
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
Zvonko Ćurković, the wartime commander of the Croatian Defence Force (HOS) in Vukovar, described Nicolier as “angelic help”. Weeks before the fall of Vukovar, he offered Nicolier a press ID, which Nicolier declined, wanting to stay with the Croatian people.
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
Commemorative speeches were also given by Nicolier’s fellow soldiers, Igor Široki and Damir Radnić.
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
Among the many citizens attending the funeral were ministers Ivan Anušić and David Vlajčić, Vukovar Mayor Marijan Pavliček, Deputy Parliament Speaker Ivan Penava, football coach Zlatko Dalić, former athletes Dubravko Šimenc and Franjo Arapović, and singer Marko Perković Thompson.
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
A condolence book for Jean-Michel Nicolier was opened at the Memorial Cemetery.
Jean-Michel Nicolier (1966-1991) came to Croatia in the summer of 1991 and actively joined the defence against the Greater Serbian aggression. In Vukovar, as a member of HOS, he defended the Sajmište district. He was wounded on 9 November 1991 and taken to the Vukovar hospital.
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
After the occupation of Vukovar and the entry of the JNA and Serbian paramilitary units into the hospital, Nicolier was taken along with other Croatian wounded soldiers, veterans, patients, medical staff and civilians. On the night of 20-21 November 1991, he was executed at Ovčara.
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
(Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)
In addition to Nicolier, the remains of Croatian veterans Zorislav Gašpar and Josip Batarelo, exhumed from the Ovčara mass grave, will be buried in the coming days.
