Gradska opstina Palilula

Dr. Miodrag Lazić was born in Zemun on May 31, 1955, where he finished elementary school. The father, an officer, was transferred to Nis. In that city, Lazić finished high school, and then studied medicine. As a student, he is actively involved in sports (volleyball and football). He completed his specialization in surgery at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, in his thirtieth year, and became one of the youngest surgeons. Then, he worked for a year at the Military Hospital in Nis, and then he moved to the Surgical Clinic of the Clinical Center, where he worked for the rest of his life. At the invitation of the people of Serbian Krajina, in July 1991 he left as a volunteer surgeon, and worked for a year in war hospitals in Dvor na Una, in Glina and Kostajnica. He was the only surgeon in the hospital that covered 200,000 inhabitants.

The hospital was on the front line and was constantly bombed by Croatian forces. Apart from the hospital, he performed operations on the very front lines, under tents, in school buildings and other facilities. He wore a camouflage uniform of the Serbian Army of Krajina and participated in the breakthrough of the Corridor of Life. In July 1992, he returned to Nis, to his family, children: his son Pedja, who was six, and his daughter Nina, who was four years old. War is raging in the former Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a volunteer, in September 1992, he went to Pale, to the Koran Hospital. After a month, as the head of the surgical team, he went to Ilidža and worked in the newly established war hospital “Žica” in Blažuj. He came for a month and stayed for forty months. As the only surgeon for the abdomen and chest, he has been working for almost two years on the area of the widest battlefield of the Republic of Srpska (five municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants). In the war hospital, Žica performed over 3,500 surgical interventions in very difficult war conditions. He performed demanding operations, including heart operations.

With several surgeons, general practitioners and paramedics, he is an example of the heroism of “people in white”, which is best evidenced by his book The Diary of a War Surgeon. This work was published by the Serbian news agency SRNA from Srpsko Sarajevo in 1996. The book describes shocking stories about severely injured people for whose lives and extremities he fought day and night. In addition to the exhausting work and writing of Dnevnik, he manages to write 16 professional papers and participates in three major international congresses, where his papers attract a lot of attention from experts. In 1994, he received the title of primarius. For his work in the Republika Srpska, His Holiness Patriarch Pavle awarded him the Order of Saint Sava. Other recognitions followed later. In February 1996, he left Srpski Sarajevo, went home, to Nis. As he himself says: “I am leaving with sadness and sadness. I am proud that I fought and shared good and evil with the heroic people of Serbian Sarajevo. I am sad and broken because of their tragedy. “After returning from Serbian Sarajevo in February 1996, Dr. Lazić continued to work at the Clinical Center in Niš, where he became the first director of the Emergency Center, which he managed for the rest of his life. The documentary Diary of a Surgeon was made about Dr. Lazić, whose author is Siniša Grabež, and the production was done by the Television of Republika Srpska.

He passed away on April 14, 2020. working with patients during a pandemic, when he contracted Covid-19. The next day, honors were given to him: employees of the Clinical Center Nis gave him a minute of silence by mail with the sounds of the March on the Drina, CSO Mediana organized a farewell with the sounds of the March on the Drina and a projection of his photos at the church of St. Tzar Constantine, and in Belgrade on the Fountain on Slavija, the March on Drina was broadcast and the flag of Serbia was projected, while the Republika Srpska and East Sarajevo declared a Day of Mourning. Among the decorations and recognitions, the following should be especially emphasized: • Order of Saint Sava – awarded by Patriarch Pavle for services in the Republic of Srpska from 1992 to 1996, • Order of the Cross of Mercy – awarded by the President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik in 2016, • First prize at International Book Fair “Initial” in Nis for historical and autobiographical work Diary of a War Surgeon (Knin 1991 – Serbian Sarajevo 1995). • Medal for Courage Milan Tepic – awarded by the Army of Republika Srpska. Most important works: Diary of a War Surgeon (Knin 1991 – Srpsko Sarajevo 1995), author: Miodrag Lazić, publisher: Srpska novinska agencija SRNA, Srpsko Sarajevo (1996) ISBN 978-86-7292-001-7 ISBN 978-86-7292-001 -7 [1] (language: Serbian); Injuries to children in the Sarajevo war zone (Suffering of children in the Republic of Srpska during the war and postwar times), Phd Miodrag Lazić, Publisher: Republic of Srpska Documentation Center for war crimes research Banja Luka, Printing: GRADIF, Banja Luka, October 2001 (language: English); Literature: Miodrag Lazić, Dnevnik ratnog hirurga, Srpska novinska agencija SRNA, Srpsko Sarajevo, 1996, portal Niške vesti, 15.04.2020, Politika, Beograd, 16.04.2020, Wikipedia – free encyclopedia