Date: November 17, 1994
Author: Valentina Krčmar, Director, Bedem Ljubavi – Mothers for Peace
Addressed to: Mr. M. Haroon Siddiqui, Editorial Page Editor, The Toronto Star
View the Original Letter: krcmar book 3_Part3_Part10.pdf
About This Letter
In this letter dated November 17, 1994, Valentina Krčmar, writing as Director of Bedem Ljubavi – Mothers for Peace, addresses The Toronto Star’s editorial page editor, Mr. Haroon Siddiqui, with a heartfelt plea for remembrance and compassion. Her words, written three years after the fall of Vukovar, bear the weight of both history and grief.
“I am writing to you because I hope that you will hear the pain in my heart, and you might do something for us, Canadian Croats.”
Krčmar recalls the horror that began on November 19, 1991, when the Croatian town of Vukovar was overtaken by Serbian forces after a devastating three-month siege. Her letter is both a memorial and a testimony — an unflinching recounting of atrocities committed against civilians and defenders alike.
“On that day many, many people died, many women and children were raped, many tortured and killed, and many disappeared. Many brave defenders of Vukovar were taken to Serbian concentration camps, and again many of those never returned. Those that did are all invalids — either physical or mental.”
Krčmar draws attention to the massacre at Vukovar Hospital, where over 200 wounded patients — including journalists such as Siniša Glavašević of Radio Vukovar — were taken by Serbian forces and murdered after horrific torture.
“One of those wounded was your colleague Mr. Siniša Glavašević… He and his cameraman were wounded and in hospital. Both of them were tortured and killed, like the rest of Vukovar’s citizens.”
Even three years later, she writes, the fates of over 1,500 people remain unknown, leaving families trapped in unbearable uncertainty.
“Many Croatian mothers are in black, many children do not know where the last resting places of their parents are.”
Krčmar implores the editor — and by extension, the Canadian public — to remember the victims of Vukovar and acknowledge the world’s failure to act when the atrocities could have been stopped.
“They died in the beginning of the war of aggression that could have been stopped if the world listened to Croats and Bosnians… The world turned a blind eye to the horror.”
Her closing words transcend politics, carrying the enduring voice of a mother and moral witness.
“For us, Vukovar will always be in our hearts, and people that perished will never be forgotten.”
This letter is a powerful act of remembrance — a reminder that the cost of indifference is measured in human lives, and that silence is the final betrayal.
