Dudik Spomen Park
Vukovar, Croatia
Designed by Bogdan Bogdanović, 1980
The term “Dudik” in Serbo-Croatian means grove of mulberry trees.
The Dudik Spomen Park is situated in a mulberry grove on the outskirts of Vukovar- a small town on the Croatian-Serbian border.
Living in a border town, the people of Vukovar seems to have been suffering a great deal of agony and pain throughout the historical conflicts of the region.
During WWII when Axis forces took over Yugoslavia and formed a puppet state called the Independent State of Croatia, many of the town’s citizens- Serbs, Jews, Communists, and Partisan supporters, were declared “undesired foreigners”.
The brutal Ustaše forces deported many of them to the Jasenovac concentration camp. Many others were taken to the Dudik where they were executed.
After the war, nine mass-burial graves were found between the mulberry trees, containing the remainings of 455 people- victims of hate and brutality.
Serbian artist Bogdan Bogdanović was assigned to design the Dudik Spomenik at Vukovar. He created a wide memorial park around the grove with five cone-shaped monoliths built from granite stone and copper.
Some believe the cones are meant to represent the tips of towers of a buried or submerged town, referring to the hundreds of victims found buried underground in the Dudik.
On one side of the cones, Bogdanović placed a large amphitheater, and on the other side, he scattered 27 stones carved to represent boats sailing on the water.
The Spomenik’s glory days were short. Within several years after its creation, it started falling into a state of disrepair. When the Croatian Independence War broke out in the 90s, the Spomenik’s cones were already worn-out.
The harsh fighting that took place in Vukovar led to the mass destruction of most of the town’s buildings, the Spomenik included.
It remained neglected and ruined for many years until funding was found to restore it and refurbish the copper cone tips. Yet, even today the Spomenik remains forgotten, and the bullet holes from the Croatian war can be easily spotted on the cones and the boats surrounding them.
I passed through the town of Vukovar looking for the Spomenik. There was no sign or directions, so it took some wrong turns until I finally spotted the tips of the cones in the mulberry grove on the outskirts of town.
It seems like not many people visit the place. The grass was as high as my waist, plants crawled up the cones, and the amphitheater could hardly be detected.
The memory of the victims buried in the Dudik seems to be long forgotten.
The image above shows the five cones surrounded by the mulberry trees. In the front, you can see one of the 27 boats with bullet holes from the Croatian Independence War.
A sad representation of the scars left by years of endless conflicts.
This and more information about the Spomenik can be found here:
https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/vukovar