Test excavations are about to start.
Slopes of Medvednica just north of Zagreb were reportedly the location of numerous executions which took place after the Second World War. The archives contain information on more than 800 possible victims, reports HRT on March 13, 2017.
Local residents have been warning for years that many of the graves located there have never been identified and marked, so they were surprised that the city authorities did not take that fact into account when they recently decided to start construction works for the new cableway which should help citizens of Zagreb more easily reach the top of Medvednica. The route of the new cableway is supposed to go through Gračani area, which is one of the possible location of mass graves.
The investor of the cableway project, the City of Zagreb, has already started construction works when indications appeared that a mass grave of victims of the World War II and the immediate post-war period could be located there. Minister of Veterans Affairs Tomo Medved visited the area and held a meeting with the relevant authorities and services which are responsible for reacting in such situations.
He announced that they will begin with trial excavations that will determine whether there is indeed a mass grave located in the area. After the trial excavation activities are started, it should immediately be clear whether there are indeed any human remains to be found there.
Minister Medved added that, if it turns out that it is indeed a mass grave site, then the procedures established for such situations would be launched. At this moment, it is still not clear whether that would influence either the route or the deadlines for completion of the new cableway, which is one of the major construction projects in the city launched by Mayor Milan Bandić ahead of local elections which will take place in May.
