Emotionally Draining

Well, I applogize for not having a post for last night- we were about 3 hrs away from Hotel Jadran in Zagreb- at the Hotel Mursa and the grad student boy had the comp- so I didnt have any way to let you know about my day!! But it kind of worked out- these past 2 days have probably been the most intense of my life- in regard to being uncomfortable and upset. We have visited 2 cities that were HEAVILY affected by the Civil War in the former Yugoslav Rebuplic- 1991-1996. We drove to Osijek (ah-see-ek) and Jasenovac (Yo-sen-o-vac) which is outside of Osijek. Here we learned about the Ustasha concentration camp. 75,000 were killed or lost their lives here at this camp. The site is now a memorial- so we didnt see anything on the land but part of a rail way that was used to bring the citizens. They were forced to build their own barraks, fences around camp, lookout towers, embankments, and infrastucture- and then were heavily beaten and abused. The palce is just a field now- marked by hills to designate what types of buildings or mass graves were there in the 90s. The architect made the site very peaceful- you wouldnt know it was used for awful war crimes- nature has taken back over the land and life is abundant there. There is a huge lotus monument in the middle to symbolize petals to the sky- looking for the futurn- and then the bottom is turned upside down to not acuse not to blame, but not to hide the truth of what really happened here. This site was not as intense as some of the Nazis- but it just made your gut churn to know people walked this ground and died- for no reason. We saw Bosnia- I could have swam to it- it was about 50 yards away and the Roma, Jews, and Serbs walked a path to be shot down at the river. It was very erie. The planks walking to the monument were made from the railroad ties used to transport people to the camp. It was very overwhelming and my heart breaks for these people. We then went into a museum that have all 75,000 names printed on glass. There was a ring someone made in the camp that said "This too shall pass"- what an AMAZING testimony- God really opened my eyes to the things I complain about.

names of the victims of the c.c.

We then went on a walking tour of the city of Osijek and had an AMAZING dinner. Im eating lots of meat- so my iron should be good! We then went out on the town and just had a group of 11 sit at a cafe and share some time and drinks. Stayed up getting to know the roomie. It was very good.

note the damage to roofs

Today was MUCH more intense that yesterday- I cant put into words the emotions or thoughts. So my writing is just to allow you to see you a piece of what we felt. We visited Vukovar- the heavest hit in Croatia- and it is so real. We saw all kinds of half destoryed buildings. We went to the Hospital that served as a refuge place for the Croatians- this was so sad. For 3 months they holed people in the basement- overcrowding at its finest- 75-85 to 1000 bombings per day hit the outside of the hospital. Patients were stacked in bunk beds and placed in the hall. THe hospital wasnt supposed to be bombed, but the Geneva Code was broken. We walked the city and saw destruction- visited a Military Museum- that didnt resonate well with me- offering paintball to the "kids" to show then what the military is like- just broke my heart bc these ppl have been through enough and war should not be placed on display. We then went to the hardest emotional place I have ever been to- a site of a massacre and mass graves. We walked the grounds where 266 men from the hospital were brought to and killed. We went to a hangar where they were beaten to the point of death for 4 of them, then drove the road they were driven on to be shot and thrown in a mass grave. All of these men were injured and disabled from the hospital. It was the most humbling experience I have had in a long time. TO be in a place where torture took place- so overwhelming. This hangar is now a memorial to those men- their pictures fade in and out on the walls and some of their belongings are below in glass on the floor- so heartbreaking. The floor is gunshells. In the middle is a large spiral that has a projector spinning their names into a dark circle, then at the end the names fade into a candle- so their memory lives on. The ceiling has 266 blue stars in the ceiling to commemorate their lives. 200 bodies were exhumed- 66 are still mia. There were also 3 women killed here, and one of them was 6 months pregnant. It is brutally overwhelming- writing this does these people no justice.

here are some belongings

It is really late- I have so much more to talk about- but I will catch you up later- we have to be up in a few hours. Pray for healing in this land- war has left a mighty void in these people and my heart was broken for them today. A priest we met with left us with the words "God Bless America and Croatia"- that is my prayer for these people.