His Grace Bishop Jerotej of Šabac and Mr Mitar Obradović, owner of the Nelly chocolate factory, signed a donation agreement on 22 April 2026 at the Episcopal Residence in Šabac. Under this agreement, the Nelly factory donates to the Diocese of Šabac a 425 m² building and a 12.5-are plot of land in the very centre of Draginac, intended for the construction of a memorial centre dedicated to the innocent victims from the Jadar region who suffered in October 1941.
The purpose of establishing the memorial centre is to preserve prayerful and cultural remembrance of those who suffered in the largest massacre that took place in this part of Serbia. During October 1941, members of the German punitive expedition, enforcing the brutal rule of “100 Serbs for one killed German soldier, and 50 for one wounded German soldier,” killed nearly 3,000 local residents, mostly children, women and elderly people, in the villages of Draginac, Jarebice, Veliko Selo, Cikote, Čokešina, Novo Selo, Tekeriš, Filipovići, Gornje and Donje Nedeljice, and Gornja and Donja Badanja.
The construction and operation of the memorial centre, which will be under the spiritual patronage of the Diocese of Šabac, will include all relevant social and cultural stakeholders: the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Education, the City of Loznica, the citizens’ association “Memorial Draginac”, “14 October” Primary School in Draginac, Nelly Company, residents of the Jadar region and descendants of the innocent victims of the crime, as well as all organisations and individuals who wish to ensure that the “largest grave of peasants in the Balkans” is preserved from historical oblivion and revisionism, and dedicated to the prayerful remembrance of all innocent victims of the October 1941 crime.
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