'Heroji.ba': Online map and register of martyrs and fallen defenders available to the public

(Patria) - The Sarajevo Memorial Center has been working on the capital project 'Heroji.ba' for the past two years with the aim of consolidating all available information about the martyrs and fallen defenders of the Army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in one place.

Through the interactive platform, available at www.heroji.ba, users can now view martyr cemeteries across Bosnia and Herzegovina on a 3D map of martyr cemeteries, as well as each individual grave of martyrs and defenders of the Army, along with their biographies and photographs.

So far, cemeteries in Sarajevo, Prijedor, Goražde, Olovo, and Brčko District have been mapped, and the platform currently contains data for over 8,500 martyrs and defenders.



- During 2023, we mapped 40 martyr cemeteries in Sarajevo, while in 2024, an additional 33 cemeteries in the Prijedor, Brčko, Goražde, and Olovo regions were covered.

The next phase of the project is planned for 2025, when we plan to work on the areas of the Banja Luka region, the Tuzla Canton, and the Una-Sana Canton. Our goal is to complete the database and map of martyr cemeteries for the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina by the end of next year - announced Ahmed Kulanić, Director of the Sarajevo Memorial Center.

As he stated, in addition to the effort to preserve all information about martyrs and defenders in one place, the significance of this project also lies in transferring national history to younger generations.

- The significance of the 'heroji.ba' platform is that it becomes an integral part of our lasting national memory. Furthermore, aware of the times we live in, the digital environment, and our students who increasingly find knowledge online, we wanted to offer content that will attract them, encourage them to learn about the heroes of our homeland, those who deserve credit for us having a homeland, in a simple and familiar way. Our ultimate goal is for the heroji.ba platform to become an integral part of our collective consciousness, an educational tool, and a reminder of our history - added Kulanić.

Call to families and the community To enrich the map with as much content and information as possible, the Sarajevo Memorial Center invites the families of martyrs and fallen defenders, as well as anyone who possesses photographs, personal writings, or documents of martyrs and defenders of the Army, to submit them to the Sarajevo Memorial Center.

- Some data is indeed difficult to obtain, and every piece of information we receive from families and loved ones is significant to us because it provides a more complete picture of each of our fighters, the opportunity to preserve as much data as possible on one hand, and on the other hand, an opportunity for all of us to get to know them better. That is the least we owe them - said Kulanić.

All collected materials will enrich the platform, and data, biographies, photographs, and documents can be entered directly on the platform www.heroji.ba or submitted to the Memorial Center via email at [email protected].