October the 29th, 2025 – The remains of three individuals have been unearthed in a mass grave in Ovčara, it has been unofficially heard that one body may belong to heroic French volunteer Jean-Michel Nicolier.
This is an emerging story and the identities of the unearthed remains have not yet been confirmed, we will bring you confirmation as soon as we get it.
As Novi list writes, today at 11:00, the National Memorial Hospital “Dr. Juraj Njavro” in Vukovar will announce the results of the identification of the remains found in a mass grave at Ovčara.
According to unofficial information from the Budica portal, the body of Jean-Michel Nicolier, a French volunteer who defended Vukovar and laid down his life for Croatia, may have been found among them.
This selfless young man from Vesoul joined the defence of Vukovar in September 1991. He was wounded on November the 9th at Sajmište, and he awaited the fall of the city as a patient at Vukovar’s hospital, from which he was taken in the early morning hours of November the 20th, 1991.
On the same day, in the evening, we know that he was brutally murdered at Ovčara by the occupying Serbs. His fate was shrouded in mystery for years, and his figure became a symbol of international solidarity and true sacrifice for the freedom of Croatia. After more than three decades of searching, the answer to the question of where Jean-Michel Nicolier rests may now finally have arrived, writes Budica.
“I knew it would be difficult, but I didn’t think it would be so terrible, especially for civilians. I came to Vukovar as a volunteer. That was my choice, for better or for worse,” is the statement Nicolier gave to HRT shortly before the fall of Vukovar and the premature end of his short life.
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