Srebrenica, a town located in the eastern part of Bosnia, has played a frequent role in the Bosnian War, namely, the massacre of July 1995. Initially, this town had acted as a refuge for over 40,000 ethnically Muslim people who had been driven out of nearby towns and villages. Despite being a “Safe Area” (Honig and Both) under the protection of UN troops, it became the target of a Serb military attack, taking the lives of over 8,000 men and boys and thus, becoming the grounds of a tragic genocide (‘Die Welt Hat Einfach Zugeschaut – Das Erzählen 3 Überlebende Des Massakers von Srebrenica’).
Years later, these bodies would be collected from mass graves and surrounding fields, but only a scarce few would be identified. In 2000, Potočari, a small village in the Srebrenica municipality, was declared as the site of the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, a place where the victims of the massacre would be buried. This site allowed the survivors the space to consolidate the trauma of the massacre and the loss of human life. (Pollack)
In the days following, survivors would return to this site for the interment of their dead, performing burial rituals that often included prayer and the use of the Bosnian Kilim, a woven rug incorporating motifs symbolizing fragments of a collective story (Besheer and Raffaele). These same motifs would be used in the Srebrenica Memorial Quilts (Srebrenica Memorial Quilts), commemorating those who died in the massacre, using woven thread to narrate their stories and allow their relatives to heal.
In 2019, a total of 6,610 victims had been buried at the Memorial. However, over a thousand Bosniak families continue to search for the people they have lost (Sorguc).
Sandra Abdulhaková
Original images:
“534 žrtve srebreničkog genocida koje su danas dobile svoj smiraj.” Ljutc, 11 Jul. 2009, www.ljutoc.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/11-juli-dan-sjecanja-na-genocid/. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Bandic, D. A photograph of a girl inspecting coffins prepared for burial, in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia, Wednesday, July 10, 2019. Canada.com, 31 Dec. 2019, www.o.canada.com/news/crime/bosnia-indicts-serb-army-general-over-srebrenica-genocide/wcm/52f99f77-51e3-43e2-b29d-b1cb28a180a8/. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Bandic, D. A photograph of refugees from Srebrenica look through the razor-wire at a UN base, outside Tuzla, July 13, 1995. AP News, 13 Jul. 2995, www.apnews.com/article/ec01765d17e8c27ead9c3f3ea6e6ca36. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Euler, M. Photograph of evacuees form Srebrenica look out from a U.N. truck in Medgas, Bosnia, north of Sarajevo, as a U.N. truck convoy carrying people from the besieged Bosnian town made its way to Tuzla, March 20, 1993. AP News, 20 March 1993, www.apnews.com/article/ec01765d17e8c27ead9c3f3ea6e6ca36. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Euler, M. Photograph of refugees evacuated from the besieged Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, struggling for bread on their arrival in Tuzla, Bosnia, 1993. Ap News, 10 Jul. 2020, www.apnews.com/article/ec01765d17e8c27ead9c3f3ea6e6ca36/gallery/7bebc041a9af4061960318b45a22aa24. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
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Krstanovic, D. A 2010 file photo of forensic experts uncovering the remains of people killed during the Bosnian war, on the shore of lake Perucac near Visegrad. The Irish Time, 1 Nov. 2013, www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/video-hundreds-of-bodies-found-at-bosnia-mass-grave-1.1580680. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Krstanovic, D. A photograph of a skull from a mass grave in the eastern village of Kamenica, believed to hold the bodies of men and boys killed by the Serbian forces at Srebrenica. The Guardian, 26 Jul. 2020, www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/26/srebrenica-bill-clinton-bosnia-appeasement-documents. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Ruvic, D. A photograph of a Bosnian Muslim boy crying beside coffins prepared for a mass burial at the Memorial Centre in Potocari, near Srebrenica July 9, 2012. ABC News, 9 Jul. 2012, www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-10/bosnian-boy-cries-beside-coffins-of-srebrenica-victims/4119992?nw=0. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Ruvic, D. A photograph of a child crying near the coffins of their relatives who were victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, at the Memorial Centre in Potocari, Bosnia and Herzegovina. International Business Times, 10 Jul. 2015, www.ibtimes.com/srebrenica-massacre-serbia-bans-public-gatherings-bosnia-marks-20th-anniversary-2004227. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Ruvic, D. A photograph of Muslim men praying in front of coffins during a mass funeral in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on July 11, 2016. The World, 11 Jul. 2016, www.pri.org/stories/2016-07-11/thousands-remember-srebrenica-massacre-victims. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Zamur, A. And Gamma-Rapho. Photograph of Ratdko Mladic in Srebrenica in 1995. Bloomberg, 27 Jun. 2017, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-27/urgent-dutch-government-partially-liable-in-300-srebrenica-deaths. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020
Zemlianichenko, A. Photograph of one of four clothed skeletons examined by U.N. investigator Elizabeth Rehn, who is trying to trace an estimated 8,000 Muslim men missing after the Serb conquest of the former Muslim enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995, lies on a hilltop, Feb. 4, 1996. AP News, 4 Feb. 1996, www.apnews.com/article/ec01765d17e8c27ead9c3f3ea6e6ca36. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020