Tuesday was August 5th, Croatia’s “Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders” (also known as “The Final Storm”), meaning its independence after the former-Yugoslav War and memorializing fallen soldiers.
On August 5, 1995, the Croatian Army overthrew Serbian forces in the city of Knin, finally replanting their flag and claiming the city and their people as their own once more. The Croatian Army used an offensive called “Operation Storm,” which forced the Republic of Serbian Krajina to fall. The War of Independence later ended on November 12, 1995, including the establishment of the Erdut Agreement between Croatia and its neighbors, including local Serbian forces, Baranja, Eastern Slavonia, and Western Syrmia.
August 5th, declared a national (and yes, office-closing) holiday, was called “Dan Pobjede i Domovinske Zahvalnosti i Dan Hrvatskih Branitelja,” or “Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders.” Many refer to it as the “Day of the Final Storm.”
The day centers around the liberation of the city of Knin, the last city in Croatia to be freed.
Most of the celebrating in the country physically takes place in Knin, where a special Mass is followed by a laying of large wreaths throughout the city. After the streets are decorated with wreaths, thousands of people gather on the sidewalks as a parade passes through, ultimately hoisting a large Croatian flag at the medieval fortress that still overlooks Knin.
Malinska’s Memorialization of Croatia’s Victoria Day
Every year, Malinska honors the 222 soldiers drafted from the Primorje-Gorski Kotar region and who lost their lives in battle.
This year, a special tribute was paid on the Krk Bridge that connects Otok Krk to the mainland. Traffic was paused, and 222 torches were lit across the 1.4 km(0.86 mile)-wide bridge, setting the night ablaze with red flame.
On the sea across the bay, cruisers, charters, and tourism boats watched the spectacle, lighting flares of their own into the night sky, and loudly singing Thompson.
We captured a video of the lighting of the 222 torches and falling of celebratory flares here (by McKenzie Lynn Tozan):
Touring with Aquavision
One of the viewing options for the evening was aboard one of the most popular tourism catamarans in the area, Aquavision, which sailed from the riva in Malinska, out past Njivice and Omišalj, under the Krk Bridge to the bay between Otok Krk and Crikvenica, Kvarner Bay.
Aquavision passed under the Krk Bridge just as the sun was setting and rotated to face the bridge just as the sky was turning an evening blue. The passengers were celebrating and loudly singing Thompson songs, amidst dozens upon dozens of personal boats, scooners, cruisers, and more, looking toward the Krk Bridge, were people were already standing along the walkway.
At promptly 9:00 (21:00)PM, 222 torches to memorialize the 222 fallen soldiers from the Primorje-Gorski Kotar region were lit along the length of the Krk Bridge, turning the night bright red, plus bright white flares that appeared to fall from the sky in celebration. Screams of joy and celebration were heard across Kvarner Bay before people applauded and continued their singing.
A Night to Remember
While the Day of the Final Storm is traditionally a quiet day throughout, with businesses and stores closed, and people meant to rest and remember, if you have the opportunity to attend a commemoration event like the lighting of the 222 Torches on Krk Bridge, you should not miss it.
This was such an incredible, heartwarming, and surreal experience to have among so many people, in the midst of one of the most important days in Croatia’s history. If you’d like to read a longer piece about this experience, you can read it here.
