Director Željko Holjevac at the Conference on the Homeland War; Otočac 22-23/10/2026
Željko Holjevac, PhD, Director of the Pilar Institute, participated in the scientific and professional conference Otočac, Brinje and Vrhovine in the Homeland War (Gacka Battlefield), held on 22 and 23 October 2026 at the Gacka Public Open University in Otočac
The conference, organized to mark the 35th anniversary of the formation of the 133rd Brigade of the National Guard of Croatia/Croatian Army (ZNG/HV) in Otočac, was organized by the Otočac Branch of Matica hrvatska, with the Pilar Institute, the Croatian Institute of History, and the Croatian Memorial-Documentation Centre of the Homeland War serving as co-organizers. On the first day, two roundtable discussions were held on testimonies concerning the defence of the Gacka region, and a book about memorials commemorating fallen defenders on the Gacka and other battlefields was presented. The second day featured scientific and professional presentations on the beginnings of the war, the Gacka battlefield from 1991 to 1995, and human and material losses.
Testimonies from those who took part in the defence of the Gacka region helped convey aspects of the experience that official documents often cannot fully capture: what everyday life was like during wartime, how decisions were made amid uncertainty, how people experienced threats to their homes and families, and what it meant to defend their homeland at the risk of their own lives. The determined defence of Otočac and Brinje by local residents and all those who came to their aid prevented rebel Serb forces and the former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) from advancing towards Rijeka. This represents a particularly important aspect of the key role played by the Gacka battlefield in the defence of Croatia during the Croatian War of Independence.
At the same time, the scientific and professional presentations placed individual experiences within a broader historical context, verified facts, compared sources, and provided as comprehensive an overview as possible of the beginning, course, and end of the wartime events, as well as the human casualties and material damage in the westernmost part of Croatia affected by the Serb rebellion. One presentation examined the direct demographic losses (wartime mortality) in Lika-Senj County during the Croatian War of Independence, with particular focus on the Gacka region. It was co-authored by Dražen Živić, PhD, of the Pilar Institute and Slaven Ružić, PhD, of the Croatian Memorial-Documentation Centre of the Homeland War.
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