New documentary highlights from 1991 The Battle of Holmec on the Austrian border
STA28 June 2022 – A new documentary about one of the bloodiest clashes of the 10-day war of independence for Slovenia in 1991 was shown in Slovenj Gradec on Monday. members of the Yugoslav army who surrendered.
Titled The Battle of Holmec – On the Other Side of Guilt (The battle for Holmec – on the other side of the blame), a documentary by Slovenian filmmaker and Boštjan Slatenšek, sheds light on the June 27 and 28, 1991 conflict at the Holmec border crossing with Austria, which was attempted by members of the Yugoslav army.
The film shows footage of a meeting of former opponents 30 years after the incident, which claimed two lives among Slovenian police officers defending the crossing with the help of Slovenian Territorial Defense units, and three lives on the side of the Yugoslav army.
Slatensek told reporters that the Holmec conflict, which in 1999 proved to be a political scandal in the wake of speculation about a possible war crime, which was later refuted, had already touched him during the war of independence, during which he first served in Yugoslavia. army to soon join the Territorial Defense.
When accusations of war crimes began, he found it appalling how the state as such did not stand more resolutely in defense of those to whom they were subjected.
He also believes that the journalists failed to present the story as they deserved, so it seemed a logical step to approach it with a documentary.
While there are many footage of the events in the feature-length documentary, Slatenšek highlighted testimonies as a key element of the film, including “testimony from the other side, which I think the film proved to be credible”.
A key moment captured on footage by an Austrian cameraman is the surrender of a group of Yugoslav soldiers during which shots are heard. Husein Sabic, who was in charge of the Yugoslav side, told the documentary that none of the soldiers seen during the surrender were killed or wounded.
“No one shot at these people who surrendered. And this is important …. no one was injured, no one died. Therefore, it is not possible for a crime to happen,” said Slatensek, whose role in the case is also among the themes of the film.