Croats to Build Largest Cemetery in Europe

Croatians are set to build Europe’s largest cemetery for World War II victims. Thousands of white crosses dedicated to victims will be arranged in straight lines on the vast mountain plateau in Bile, 15 kilometers from Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There will also be crosses dedicated also to those killed during the communist regime.

Cemetery of Peace, foto: Vecernjak

The cemetery, which when complete will be the largest of its kind in Europe, will be named “The Cemetery of Peace” and will resemble the famous Arlington National cemetery in the US. Above the thousands of crosses will be a large chapel, with two statues flanking either side of it – one of Europe’s patron saint Saint Benedict, and one of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus. “Our plan is that every year on 23 August we mark the biggest loss of life in Europe which happened in 1945,” said one of the men behind the idea from the Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.