Wall of Pain - Zid boli

Wall of Truth about Martyrdom of Croatian People - The Voice of Croatian Victims

Zid istine o stradanju hrvatskog naroda - Glas hrvatske žrtve

The Wall of Pain (Zid boli) in Zagreb is a memorial for all Croatians who were killed or disappeared during the Greater-Serbian aggression on Croatia (1990-1995). It was built in 1993 by mothers and relatives of killed and missing soldiers and civilians upon the initiative of Mrs Zdenka Farkas, and placed around the building where UN Peace Mission to Croatia had its headquarters. It has been built as an appeal for humanity and human rigts addressed to the UN. Croatia was in flame at that time, many towns under siege and fierce bombarding from earth and air.

The Wall of Pain consists of 13,650 red and black bricks.
Relatives wrote the names of missing people on the red ones,
the black ones symbolise the deads.

Each brick symbolizes one tragic story, one life that ended brutally
during the aggression on Croatia.

The bricks were moved to the Zagreb cemetery in 2005,
which caused many protests in Croatia.

Photos and text based on Virtualtourist

Photo by Julija Vojković

The wall dissappeared on November 5th, 2005, early in the morning at 5.30 AM, when it was ruined in complete secrecy, the bricks being moved to the Zagreb cemetery.

Photo from Portal hrvatskog kulturnog vijeća


Zagreb 1993, photo by Siniša Hančić, Pixsell

Thousands of Croats of all generations have among their closest relatives many of those with unknown destiny. This can especially be seen during the All Saints Day.

On the All Saints Day (Dušni dan), 2006 (photo by D.Ž.)

Julija Vojković: Zid boli

Ruined Church of St. Mihovil in Kijevo in 1991.

The above two photos are from Ante Jurić - Arambašić: Kijevska pučka pjesmarica, Zavičajni klub "Kijevo", Zagreb 1995., ISBN 953-96460-0-6

Ivo Maroević: Zrnca životnog mozaika 1937.-2007.

S izložbe posvećene Ivi Maroeviću održane u Palači MIMARA u Zagrebu veljače 2009.

Ivo Maroević (1937-2007), distinguished Croatian museologist, in Vukovar in 1995.

Ivo Maroević

S izložbe posvećene Ivi Maroeviću održane u Palači MIMARA u Zagrebu veljače 2009.

Ivo Maroević: Rat i baština u prostoru Hrvatske, Matica hrvatska, Ogranak Petrinja,1995., ISBN 953-96060-1-2, (bilingual Croatian and German edition: Krieg und Kultur Erbe im Raum Kroatien)


Slobodan Lang: Udar na hrvatsko dostojanstvo (Zid boli u Zagrebu)

Some of the victims whose names appear on bricks in the Wall of Pain:

  1. Gordan Lederer
  2. Sinisa Glavasevic

Prepared by Darko Žubrinić in 2006. I express my deep gratitude to Mrs. Zdenka Farkaš for kind help.


Croatia - History, Culture and Science