In Memoriam: Milca Rakic (1996-1999)

   NATO's First War: Anniversary Of 3-Year-Old Serbian Girl's Death

   http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2013&mm=04&dd=17&nav_id=85755

   Anniversary of death of 3-year-old victim of NATO bombing

   BELGRADE: Today marks 14 years since the death on April 17, 1999, of three-year-old Milica Rakić, killed during a NATO air raid.

   The child was fatally injured in the bathroom of her home, when a shrapnel from a cluster bomb hit her in the head.

   The apartment building where her family lives is located some six kilometers from the military airport in the Belgrade suburb of Batajnica.

   The traces of the damage done by the bomb are still visible on the facade around the bathroom window. The family decided not to repair the wall, as a reminder of the horrific crime.

   The toddler's death became the symbol of the suffering of the Serbian people during the war that NATO waged against the country in the spring of 1999.

   http://members.tripod.com/sarant_2/ks12milica.html

   One military target less

   Milica Rakic was born in the dawn of January 9, 1996. Brother Aleksa who has now turned six rejoiced at that moment. Milica was killed on April 17, 1999 at 9:45 p.m. In the little bathroom, in Dimitrije Lazarevic Rasa street, house number 8, first floor, Batajnica. The shrapnel smashed the little window and tore the curtain.

   Milica was sitting on the potty. Her mother Dusica left the bathroom for a second and went to prepare Milica's bed. For her to sleep in.

   The door of the bathroom was open, and the shrapnel shot straight through the entrance door. It was yesterday afternoon. Milica's dress is hanging on the line in the bathroom. It was washed before that, to be ready for an outing on April 18. A red dress, with an embroidered kitten sleeping in a basket. The apartment is a modestly furnished, a one and a half room home. Full of warmth. The warmth is gone. The face of Zarko Rakic (43), father, has suddenly got new lines. Milica's mother Dusica has avoided death by an instant. She wishes she had not.

   Brother Aleksa is surrounded by his friends.

   - My little sister is gone - he explains.

   The bathtub is full of glass. The lavatory is smashed, the wall tiles broken.

   - And her little head... - one can hear a voice from the room say.

   An abrupt explosion, nothing could be heard before that. The face of the house is pierced with holes that have been dug in the white wall of the building number 8.

   - I ran barefoot into the bathroom - says Zarko. He thinks about the words he has uttered. Then, turns his head around. Meets Dusica's eyes. Looks at us. - I took her, ran down the stairway, rushed into the car... I drove on, although I knew she was gone. I drove on. In the hospital, they took her away from me.

   Zarko's sister Milka Bogojevic, professor: I heard the detonations. The radio said that Batajnica had been struck. My sister-in-law Dusica answered the phone. She said: Milica has been hit. I did not know what that was supposed to mean... Now I do, and I can't understand. I've left my son Ilija, a six-year-old - Milica's brother. She was his closest... I told the others not to tell him anything. I will do that, if I feel capable.

   Bogdan Mirilovic (71) a neighbour: - My house is across the street. A detonation was heard. Then I heard a scream. That was the most frightening scream I had ever heard in my life. Then the wailing.

   Femi Sumeti (37) a neighbour from number 10, recounts that after the explosion everything was covered with black smoke that pricked the eyes.

   In the house across the street, one of the shrapnels hit Drazen Jankovic (21): When it exploded we all fell down. I was hit in the lower leg. This morning they extracted a piece of shrapnel from my leg but they are suspecting that there may be more left. I used to play with Milica. She was such a happy little girl. She always used to run around.

   The bathroom wall tiles are decorated with little pictures - the whole wall right to the door. The door was open. Death shot through the little window.

   - The doctor told me that the news were unfavourable - says Zoran Blagojevic, Zarko's sister's husband. That was at midnight. What was unfavourable? I asked without being able to reason.

   Zarko is from Bosanski Petrovac, near Drvar. He came to Belgrade in the late seventies. He met his wife-to-be in Bezanija. Their place of birth was taken by the Muslims. Zakro's father and mother are now in Derventa, he says, and "they live on no man's land and in nobody's house". Zarko is a mechanic, his wife Dusica is a worker. They set up their home in Rasina street, number 8.

   - Milica made a picture of some tulips the other day - for herself, recounts their cousin Danijela Dukic, a doctor. - Tulipcs, yellow and red.

   Their neighbours and their friends sat down on two sofas. Someone mentioned destiny, as well.

   Do not speak about destiny - said Zarko. Don't anyone tell me about destiny!

Received from Irina Malenko