Part 16 - Novi Sad, Serbia, and Vukovar, Croatia
We continued to sail west, with Serbia still on both sides of the river, then docked in Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia.
At the Petrovaradin fortress we saw the "Reverse Clock". The short hand shows minutes and the long hand shows hours, so fishermen on the Danube can see the time at a long distance.
A church steeple, as seen from the fortress.
A view of the city from the fortress.
The boat continued west, and now Croatia was on our left, with Serbia still on our right. We docked in Ilok, Croatia, and took a bus tour to Vukovar, Croatia.
In 1991, as Croatia fought for its independence from Serbia, the Yugoslav army vastly outnumbered the defenders of Vukovar. About 200-400 refugees at the Vulkovar hospital were handed over to Serbian rebels, who took them to a hangar on a remote farm at Ovcara where they were beaten, killed, and buried in a mass grave. We visited the farm, where the hangar has been converted into a memorial that has to be seen to be understood.
The entrance to the hangar / memorial.
The concrete floor is imbedded with shell casings found at the site.
The location of the mass burial has been converted into a cemetery for those massacred and for other defenders of Croatia.
A monument in the cemetery.