During the ceremony, wartime commander of the Mitnica defence unit Pilip Karaula reflected on the harrowing days of 1991, describing Vukovar as a "valley of death."
“In Mitnica, we found a way out by choosing to surrender our weapons,” Karaula said. “This decision marked the end of the battle for Mitnica and ensured the survival of civilians and wounded in the area. While we, the Croatian defenders, were taken to Serb-run concentration camps, we were able to save countless lives.”
Seeing that one after another residential area was falling into the hands of the occupiers, we decided on what to do as the collapse of the defence was inevitable. We know how many civilians there were in our area and that we were supposed to protect them, said the last wartime commander of the defence of Mitnica.
Negotiations with the JNA and Serb rebels took place on 18 November 1991 at the Goldsmidt farm near Vukovar, with Karaula, Zdravko Komšić, and Matija Mandić representing the Croatian side. International Red Cross representatives were also present to witness the talks.
The defenders agreed to surrender on the condition that approximately 5,000 civilians would be safely transported to Croatian-held areas. As part of the agreement, the defenders themselves were arrested and transported to wartime concentration camps in Serbia.