Kostajnica Municipality

Summary

The present-day municipality of Kostajnica was separated from the pre-1992 municipality of Bosanski Novi in 1992; it had previously existed as the separate municipality of Bosanska Kostajnica until 1963, albeit with different boundaries to those of the present-day municipality. The municipality occupies a total area of roughly 85.1 km2 today, and is located in the Republika Srpska entity.

The NOB memorial heritage of present-day Kostajnica municipality was covered in Ljubo Mihić’s 1987 monograph Kozara: priroda, čovjek, istorija (pp.832-834), with a total of 6 monuments and memorials being mentioned. In the process of research, a municipal document listing ‘Monuments and Memorials of Great Importance to Kostajnica Municipality’ was found to exist. This list, created in 2013, includes a total of 7 monuments and memorials. However, upon further querying of this list, it appears that one site (a Partisan Cemetery in the settlement of Mrakodol) does not exist, with this listing instead referring to a number of individual graves of Partisan fighters within the local church cemetery. This site has therefore been excluded from the research. A total of 8 sites were recorded during field research undertaken by Neven Đenadija and Andrew Lawler in June 2019, and are presented in the report below.

Monuments & Memorials

Village/MZ	Address	Name	Type	Year	Author	Still Exists	Date Mapped	Description
Kostajnica	Town park	Monument to the Uprising and fallen fighters	Monument	1950		Yes	April 2019	Monument consisting of four vertically stacked cuboidal blocks topped by a red five-pointed star, with a total height of around 5 metres. Restored 2004.
Kostajnica	Zečevo Brdo	Mass grave of c.2000 Victims of Fascist Terror	Communal Grave	1954		Yes	June 2019	Monument marking the site of a mass grave in which an estimated 2000 Victims of Fascist Terror were buried after being killed at this location in late July and early August 1941.
Kostajnica	Zečevo Brdo	Mass grave of c.500-600 Victims of Fascist Terror	Communal Grave	1954		Yes	June 2019	Monument marking the site of a mass grave in which an estimated 500-600 Victims of Fascist Terror were buried after being killed in late July and early August 1941.
Kostajnica	Ustanička Ul.	Partisans' cemetery	Cemetery	1954		Yes	June 2019	Cemetery containing 27 individual graves of known and unknown soldiers, including that of National Hero Branko Tubić. Renovated 2001.
Petrinja	Local cemetery	Partisans' cemetery	Cemetery	1957		Yes	June 2019	Cemetery containing a total of 18 burials, with at least 4 who died after the end of the People’s Liberation War, including National Hero Lazo Šteković (1922-1952). In very good condition and well maintained.
Tavija	Veliki Hrastić	“Zastava” monument	Monument			Yes	June 2019	Monument consisting of a large metal flag on a flagpole, with a watchtower-like structure built around it
Podoška		“Komanda Baljske čete” memorial complex	Memorial Park	1986	Alija Rešić	Yes	June 2019	Monument consisting of seven tall concrete pillars, with 5 bronze reliefs created by Alija Rešić and memorial plaques around the side. Lies on the boundary between Kostajnica and Kozarska Dubica municipalities. 3 of the 5 bronze reliefs stolen in 2011. Poorly maintained, but in good condition. Parts of the complex existed prior to 1978.
Kalenderi	Former elementary school	Memorial plaque to commemorate conference held by Mladen Stojanović	Memorial Plaque	1950		In storage	June 2019	Plaque in excellent condition. In storage since c.1973.

Report PDF

Map

Key

Number	Name
1	Monument in the town park, Kostajnica
2	Mass grave of c.2000 Victims of Fascist Terror on Zečevo Brdo, Kostajnica
3	Mass grave of c.500-600 Victims of Fascist Terror on Zečevo Brdo, Kostajnica
4	Partisans’ cemetery in Kostajnica
5	Partisans’ cemetery in Petrinja
6	“Zastava” monument on Veliki Hrastić hill, Tavija
7	“Komanda Baljske čete” memorial complex, Podoška
8	Memorial plaque to commemorate conference held by Mladen Stojanović, Kalenderi

(precise coordinates can be obtained by contacting the author

Resources

Ćurguz, Dragutin & Vignjević, Milorad (1982) Drugi Krajiški Narodnooslobodilački Partizanski (Kozarski) Odred „Mladen Stojanović“: Izdano povodom proslave 40-godišnjice kozarske epopeje, 816 pp. Prijedor: Nacionalni park Kozara. Available: http://znaci.net/00003/596.pdf
Đenadija, Neven (2016) Komanda Baljske Čete – Ogledalo Kostajnice. Available: https://nevendjenadija.wordpress.com/2016/06/06/komanda-baljske-cete-ogledalo-kostajnice/
Opština Kostajnica (2013). “Listu spomenika i spomen obilježja od velikog značaja za opštinu Kostajnica”. Službeni glasnik opštine Kostajnica no. 1/13. Available: http://www.opstina-kostajnica.com/images/stories/slgl_1_2013.pdf
opstina-kostajnica.com (2011) Ukradene biste narodnih heroja. Available: http://www.opstina-kostajnica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123:ukradene-biste-narodnih-heroja
Tihić, Smail (1981) Dovršena akcija na poslovima terenske evidencije i analizi spomen obilježja NOR-a i revolucije in Naše Starine XIV-XV (1981) pp.253-256.

Credits

Neven Đenadija

Neven Đenadija is a resident of Kostajnica, and is currently undertaking postgraduate studies at the University of Banja Luka. He is heavily committed to the municipality where he is a member of the local council and works in the municipality’s Touristic Organization. Neven located all sites in Kostajnica municipality, and undertook fieldwork to map and photograph them. He has his own blog, on which he writes about local and regional political issues, which can be seen here: https://nevendjenadija.wordpress.com/