Today, with the national anthem and a minute’s silence, tribute was paid to the victims of the Second World War.
On this day in 1945, the document on the unconditional surrender of Germany was signed in Berlin, ending the Second World War and establishing the Day of Victory over Fascism. Wreaths were laid at the monument in Park “Tri heroja” by the delegations of the City of Smederevo, the City Board of the SPS, the City Board of SUBNOR and the Association of Descendants of the Warriors of 1912–1918.
After the wreath-laying, those gathered were addressed by Ranko Višekrunić, a representative of the City Board of SUBNOR:
“Ladies and gentlemen, comrades, dear fellow citizens, today we mark Victory Day, the day when, 78 years ago, the unconditional surrender was signed and the Second World War officially ended. The road from the days of the uprising in 1941 to the liberation of the country in 1945 was long and arduous, marked by enormous sacrifices and the suffering of our people. Our city also made a great contribution to the victory over fascism and suffered great human and material losses. Three fighters of the People’s Liberation War from the Smederevo area, Ivan Stefanović, Svetomir Mladenović and Milivoje Stojković, before whose busts we proudly stand today, were proclaimed People’s Heroes. Today we proudly say ‘Thank you’ to all the fighters of the People’s Liberation War, we pay tribute to all the victims of fascism in our region, and we declare that we will not allow our great struggle and our immeasurable role as liberators from fascism to be forgotten!”
Ranko Višekrunić ended his speech with the well-known salute “Death to fascism, freedom to the people”.
