Forward to victories, for better days

Legend has it that Trubjela got its name from the trumpets that sounded from Turkish watchtowers and announced danger.

Today, the place 18 kilometers from Nikšić, known for its imposing memorial complex built in memory of the fighters of the liberation wars from the former Rudin-Trepačka municipality, is "awakened" only by car horns.

"The idea of ​​the monument originated in 1975-76. year, and the monument was erected and unveiled in 1982. People's heroes Veljko Nikolić and Veljko Zeković were most committed to realizing that idea. The decision was made to place the monument in the center of the Rudin-Trepa municipality and to dedicate it to all the fighters who died in the liberation wars, the Balkan wars, the First and Second World Wars. Although they say that there was a consensus at the time, a solution was found to 'reconcile' all the victims, so that neither the cross nor the pentagram stand there. It is a rare monument that does not have a mark," Blažo Nikolić, a member of the Municipal Board of UBNOR and an anti-fascist from Nikšić, who was a member of the so-called directing committee for the construction of the monument, told "Vijesti".

The monument on the hill on the right side of the Nikšić-Trebinje main road was designed by the famous Nikšić architect Slobodan Vukajlović, and the contractor was the company "Ukras" from Danilovgrad. As was the practice at that time, the construction of the monument on Trubjela, which was built of gray Greek granite, was financed by voluntary contributions from citizens born in the Rudin-Trepa area and labor organizations from Nikšić.

"Twenty-two granite pillars represent 'a column of fighters who in eternal movement rush forward for better and more beautiful days'. The accessible stepped plateaus symbolize the age-old aspiration for freedom, the sacrifices made for it and the connection between the first liberation wars and the armed uprising in 1941. From this emergence a solemn podium symbolizing already mature units: detachments, battalions, brigades, divisions, corps, army. In a developed order, from smaller to larger, dignified dead guards, petrified flags stand in perfect view," wrote Veljko Bijelić in the book "Memorial of the characteristics of the liberating wars in the municipality of Nikšić".

Between the stone triangular elements, a glowing flame made of precious metal is inserted, which is a guide for generations "how and how much to love the earth".

"The radially carved surfaces of the central elements around the flame symbolize the selflessness of those who fell for freedom, a reminder to be unforgettable, and at the same time it is a guiding star, it is a life full of zest and striving in the eternal revolution of human creation," Bijelić wrote.

The plateau in front of the monument is made of rough white stone slabs that shrink and transition into the paths surrounding the monument, symbolizing the unknown fighters who died on this ground. Behind the monument, at the point where the paths meet, there is an ossuary and a plateau for laying wreaths and flowers.

On the first left plaque it says "I burn for freedom", and on the right "Grateful citizens of Rudin-Trepa municipality".

The text and names of 112 soldiers who died in the Balkans and the First World War and 130 who lost their lives in death camps in Austro-Hungarian camps and forced labor in 1912-1913 are written on the three following plates. and 1914-1918. The text and names of 124 fighters killed in the battles near Pljevlja, Belgrade, on the Neretva, Sutjeska, Srem front and other battlefields in the Yugoslav territories and 38 victims of fascist terror are written on the three following plates. The most important events and dates from the People's Liberation Struggle from this area are engraved on four plates.

A debt to the heroes "who sowed bones from Bregalnica to Triglav"

A monument with an ossuary to fallen soldiers during the Second World War was unveiled at the central republican celebration of the 41st anniversary of the Day of the Uprising in Montenegro, which was organized in Trujela.

"A big celebration was organized that day. A lot of people were present. Pero Roganović, the president of the Committee for the construction of monuments, and Vojo Nikolić, a retired JNA lieutenant general and national hero, spoke," recalls Blažo Nikolić.

He adds that there are many names of Nikolić on the plaques and jokingly says that his brotherhood is said to know that if they know anything, they know that they are dying for freedom. "There is the name of my grandfather's brother, Nikola, who died in 1915 at Vučje dol. In addition to his name, there are also the names of my relatives, both those who died in the First World War and those who died in the Second World War," said Nikolić.

"Not even three bloody whirlwinds of war, the First and Second Balkan Wars and the First World War, did not pass this rugged nest of freedom, which even then fulfilled the libertarian vow of the ancestors - 112 freedom fighters from this area honorably left their bones on the angry Bardanjolt, the bloody Bregalnica, the distant Thessaloniki front and other battlefields, and 130 of them died a martyr's death in the infamous camps and other war killing grounds... It is only natural that the sons and daughters of this karst, imbued with the freedom-loving tradition of their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, stood with dignity and courage on July 13, 1941 to the defense of their homeland and went into fierce battles and heroic deeds... With deep piety and pride, the people of this region always remember those of their fighters, so this memorial was created as an expression of debt and gratitude, permanent memory and eternal admiration and desire to save their names from oblivion in a dignified way and be a role model for future generations", said Pero Roganović during the unveiling of the monument, according to Bijelić's book.

On that day, Vojo Nikolić said in his speech that the erection of the monument is a debt to the heroes "who sowed their bones from Bregalnica to Triglav fighting and dying for their freedom and the freedom of the fraternal Yugoslav nations".

"They fought for the highest ideals that inspired them and for which the greatest sons of our people fought for centuries," Nikolić said.

"Subsequent burials of the remains of fallen fighters in this area were carried out at ceremonies on July 13 for several years, in the presence of a large number of citizens and guests, with appropriate cultural and artistic programs and posthumous rifle platoons," wrote Bijelić.

At the main municipal ceremony on the occasion of the Day of the Fighter, on July 4, 1989, a memorial was unveiled as part of the memorial complex for the fighters and on the plaque, among other things, it was written: "Here rest the remains of fifteen fighters from the Second Dalmatian Proletarian Brigade, 29. of the Herzegovinian proletarian division, the Sixth Montenegrin Strike Brigade and the Nikšić NOP detachment, which during the NOR went through battles from Knin, Sinj, Omiš and Korcula to Čapljina, Gack, Nikšić and Cetinje, fell on the territory of the municipality of Nikšić".

The last burial of the soldiers' remains in the ossuary on Trubjela took place at a ceremony attended by many citizens and guests from Montenegro, Dalmatia and Belgrade. Velizar Perunović and Novak Stevović spoke. The remains of Hamdija Šahović, Stipe Modrič and Ibro Razić were sent to their birthplaces.

In front of the monument on Trubjela, UBNOR still holds events and history classes today, commemorating appropriate dates from the past and reminding of the importance of the inhabitants of Rudin and Trepač in the wars of liberation.

Socialism would still be alive today if all communists were like the late Mirko Božović

For the construction of the monument, its maintenance, as well as the park that was planted, great credit goes to the late Mirko Božović, a member of the Committee for the construction of the monument.

"Thanks to the activities in organizing the work, collecting funds, obtaining building materials and performing the works of Mirko Božović, who, as the people say, 'dawned and died on the construction of the monument', the monument was completed within the planned period and in accordance with the project," wrote Bijelić.

And Blažo Nikolić had to remember Božović.

"The monument was maintained thanks to Mirko Božović. Mirko literally built the park himself. He went there all the time, watered it, maintained it, and it was practically his park. I must say that both the park and the monument looked immaculate when he maintained them. He was such a man that when he was given a task, he did it with maximum responsibility and dedication. If all communists were like Mirko Božović, there would still be socialism," Nikolić said with a smile and added that he was glad to be a member of the Committee for the Construction of Monuments, but that he was not glad that he did not know whether "there anyone alive from that Committee" except him.

In 2016, the family of the late Mirko Božović was presented with the jubilee medal of SUBNOR of Montenegro for their outstanding contribution to the Veterans' Organization.