- Let's say the word chicken, which we tried to teach him in Vukovar, he pronounced so "creatively" that I was dying of laughter. Damir recalled.

Damir Markuš remembered how Jean Michel shared tears, pain and blood with his comrades. He was not indifferent to what was happening to them.

He will never forget how he practiced the Croatian language, which he did not like.

"Let's say the word chicken, which we tried to teach him in Vukovar, he pronounced so "creatively" that I was dying of laughter. In battles, Jean behaved like all of us, he was a good fighter, but he also liked to take photos, so a certain number of photos we have from Vukovar are his work." Damir recalled in his book "HOS 58 in the defense of Vukovar and Bogdanovac".

 – Jean, say "chicken"! –

Jean-Michel

Vukovar

The beliefs we have are sometimes stronger than our fears

Jean obsessively followed the scant news about the war in Croatia from the comfort of his home in France. The struggle for independence that these people provided inspired him constantly, but also tormented him. Namely, he believed that these people needed help.

His, but also no other state ruled. He felt that the time had come to make his contribution, no matter how small it was.

His mother kept answering him:

"That's where it gets serious. This isn't your war let them handle it themselves!"

"How can you tell me that, you as my mother? And you always told me to follow my ideas! And those are my ideas. And I'll tell you something else, I signed up as a volunteer in Vukovar. I'm going there."

But the mother was still worried and against it.

"Don't worry, mom. You know how she always says that we're like weeds in the house? And you know that nothing can destroy weeds." Jean joked at the end.

But Jean was not a weed, but a gentle and good young man who was consumed by the darkness of a war that was not his.

Solid ideals

My name is Jean-Michel. I am 22 years old. I come from Vesoul in France. And I am currently in Croatia, in Vukovar. I couldn't just watch what was happening here from Vesoul. I wanted to help them. They suggested to me more than once that I leave Vukovar and return to France. But I came to Vukovar as a volunteer. It's my choice, for better or for worse. I knew it would be difficult, but I didn't think it would be so terrible, especially for civilians. I've lost too many friends, I've seen too many people cry, too much suffering. And now, now it's over. We lost. I feel that an evil doom is coming to me. "Who is French?" I hear, someone is calling me. I answered: "I'm here.", and he said something incomprehensible in Serbian, and the only thing I managed to make out was "Ustasha". It's over, I thought. And I thought well. He had some kind of bat in his hand, maybe that thick cable, something like that. He swung and started hitting me. I fell to the floor from the force of the blows. He stepped on me. He beat me to unconsciousness. I regained consciousness when they took us out of the truck. They lined us up and killed us. What does Vukovar symbolize for me? A slaughterhouse. A slaughterhouse. A slaughterhouse.

With Vukovar, for better or for worse

 – I came to Vukovar as a volunteer. It's my choice, for better or for worse. –

Jean-Michel Nicolier was born in Vesoul, France. His mother Lyliane Fournier had three sons, Jean-Michel, Pierre and Paul.

Jean-Michel completed primary and secondary school in his native Vesoul. After finishing his education, he was looking for himself and his way. Watching the horrors of war in Croatia on French television, he realized that he had to help. He went into the unknown, to a country he had never been to before.

In July 1991, a young Frenchman boarded a train and arrived in Zagreb. There he joined the Croatian Defense Forces. His first battlefield with the HOS was in Mejaško Selo on the Karlovac battlefield.

His comrade Igor Široki told the story of his arrival.

– After Jean gave an interview to French journalists in Mejaško village, he stormed into our hut and asked me: "Are you fascists?" I answered him: "Do we look like fascists to you?" When he said "No!", I told him to relax, that we are the Croatian army. As a Frenchman, he hated fascists, and he was there with us and knew that we had nothing to do with that film. –

Encouraged by videos and stories about suffering in Vukovar, he voluntarily decides to go to the besieged city. They offered him several times to leave and save himself. They even offered him to work for newspapers, starting with the French journalistic team that filmed him in Mejaški Selo, but the young Frenchman refused everything.

His mother also begged and begged him to return, having a premonition of evil. But he said to her: - How can you say that to me, you, who always told me that you should go to the end of your ideals? I stay with my comrades. –

His comrades said that, talking to him, you couldn't help but love him. He was witty, self-deprecating and likeable. Arriving in Vukovar, he fought on Sajmište, one of the most difficult battlefields.

Although he was not trained, he was a good warrior. Cool and calm. But in the battle on November 9, 1991, he was wounded when a grenade exploded, which is why he had to stay in the hospital. When it was likely that the city would fall, his comrades offered to carry him wounded in an attempt to break through. But he didn't want that.

In the basement of the Vukovar hospital, a few hours before his death, in a short interview with French reporters, he refused to leave Vukovar for the last time, saying: - I came to Vukovar as a volunteer. It's my choice, for better or for worse. –

He was soon taken to Ovčara. He died a martyr's death, suffering the survival of the enemy army. The available information shows that Siniša Glavašević was liquidated first, and then Jean.

On November 17, 2011, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski for the exceptional courage and heroism he showed in the defense of Vukovar. His mother Lyliane Fournier accepted the award.

The Croatian public paid tribute to the French hero by writing novels and shooting films about him. The pedestrian bridge in Vukovar is named after him. Next to him stands Jean's memorial bust to protect Vukovar forever. The city that became home to this hero in just a few months. The home where he stayed, forever.

– Jean, say "chicken"! –

- Let's say the word chicken, which we tried to teach him in Vukovar, he pronounced so "creatively" that I was dying of laughter. Damir recalled.

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