I am always sad on 11th of July.
Today is the 18th anniversary since the Srebrenica genocide happened. In July 1995 more than 8,000 Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) were murdered. The mass murder was described by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as the worst crime on European soil since the Second World War.
Today on BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23267348
Srebrenica lies exactly 570 kilometers (354 miles) from my home town. It is so close!
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Sometimes, on a sad day as today, I am glad I don't have children of my own.
(the entire region has peace now. It can last for a decade or two or more. But I am sure there will be wars again. I just hope that not in my lifetime.)
I hope not in your lifetime too Klara. I can't imagine what it is like to live so close to that. It was eye-opening to go to Dubrovnik and see an exhibition on the wars there, and to read such anger and hatred and resentment in the words accompanying the displays. And to realise it was only such a short time ago.
ReplyDeleteI work with a girl who is originally from Macedonia, once part of Yugolavia. She is in her 30s & I would like to ask her about what, if anything, she remembers of those days, but I don't want to dredge up any bad memories.
ReplyDeletedear Mali and Loribeth,
ReplyDeletethank you for commenting.
Mali - yes, exhibition about the war in Dubrovnik is really sad. To se photos of all men who were robbed of their future.
Loribeth - the war was the most cruel in Bosnia and Croatia. War in Macedonia lasted aprox. three months. But it is possible that something bad happened to her or her family in that time.
Wars really are terrible.