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          Photograph by Natalia Dobryszycka: From Srebrenica

SDN Commemorates the Twentieth Anniversary of the Massacre at Srebrenica with These Seven Exhibits   

 

Srebrenica, a small town in the Drina River valley in eastern Bosnia, is the site of the worst atrocity of the war in Bosnia (1992-95). In just a few days beginning on July 11, 1995, 8,000 Bosnian men and boys were slaughtered after the UN surrendered their tenuous protection of the Muslim community to Bosnian Serb forces lead by General Ratko Mladic. Women, children, and the elderly were put on buses for Tuzla in nearby Bosnian-held territory. Men and boys were rounded up and during the next few days systematically executed. Many took the risk of fleeing through the woods for safe territory. Most did not survive as they were hunted and killed. This week, ceremonies are taking place around the world to remember the dead and giving solace to the living, while some try to wish things turned out differently. The Dutch peacekeepers who surrendered the town, and their nation as a whole, still feel a terrible burden as the responsible party when their protection made the difference between life and death. We hope this anniversary brings some degree of healing to everyone.

Some say the entire 20th century was book-ended by two calamitous events in Bosnia. World War I began following the assassination of the Austrian Archduke on June 28, 1914 in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. The war in Bosnia ended following the massacre at Srebrenica when the US-lead NATO coalition finally brought an end to the conflict in late 1995. It was only six short years following Srebrenica that the 21st century began with the events of September 11, 2001.

SDN presents these seven exhibits that explore the events of the war in Bosnia, the aftermath of Srebrenica, and life in Bosnia today as the population needs nothing more than to move on. In too many ways though, they are held back by the ghosts of war and by a dysfunctional political system crafted by US and EU government bureaucrats eager to end the war but, as is too often the case, lacking the wisdom of how to create a lasting peace.

In Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre 

Srebrenica>>
by Natalia Dobryszycka/Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 11th July 1995 in Srebrenica, a safe zone protected by UN forces, Serbs killed in ethnic cleansing more than 8,000 Bosniak man. A dozen years after the largest genocide in Europe since World War II, mass graves are still being found and exhumed. In the mortuaries, thousands of bodies await  identification...

Zones of Separation: The Struggle for a Multi-ethnic Bosnia>>
by Glenn Ruga/Bosnia and Herzegovina

During three trips to Bosnia between 1995 and 1997, Glenn Ruga, Frank Ward, and Barbara Ayotte record the stories of people in Bosnia who have survived ethnic cleansing. As they begin to rebuild their lives, refugees, professionals, and government officials talk about their past experiences and...

Slow Healing Wound>>
by Uspecto Agency/Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sarajevo -- capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It's very hard to escape from war time memories when visiting this city. During the Bosnian War, citizens of Sarajevo suffered the longest siege (1992-1995) in modern history. At that time, more than 10 000 people were killed ...

PTSD in Bosnia>>
by Cheryl Nemazie/Bosnia and Herzegovina

PTSD was unrecognized in Bosnia and Herzegovina until recently, despite the severe nature of the Serbian conflict: its violence, ethnic cleansing, and relentless siege over a span of years. Renata was 13 years old when the war began. She quickly adapted to life under siege: learning places to avoid...

They Fight to Defend Their Country: Forgotten teen soldiers of Sarajevo.>>
by alain canaque/Bosnia and Herzegovina

Several thousand child soldiers voluntarily joined military and police units on all three warring sides in the 1992-95 war in Bosnia. Associations of former child soldiers from the former Yugoslavia estimate that around 10,000 people under the age of 18 -- some even as young as ten -- participated...

The Bosnian Identity>>
by Matteo Bastianelli/Bosnia and Herzegovina

A journey into the memory of Bosnia. A dream, an interior image of a lost generation, traces of an imperceptible line between what happened and what could be. Everyday stories of Muslim families, otherwise marked by the war. A continuous voyage of self-awareness amidst the horror of the Srebrenica ...

Getting Clean - The Story of Ex-Addicts>>
by Danielle Shitrit/Bosnia and Herzegovina

"The post war period destroyed much more of Bosnia and many more people than the war period. The three years destroyed people in the way of killing them, in the way of losing life. But these 18 years destroyed people in the way of losing purpose" These are the words of a ...


Advisory Committee
Kristen Bernard
Lori Grinker
Steve Horn
Ed Kashi
Reza
Jeffrey D. Smith
Stephen Walker
Frank Ward
Jamie Wellford

Staff
Glenn Ruga
Founder & Director

Barbara Ayotte
Communications Director

Caterina Clerici
Special Issue Editor 

Paula Sokolska
ZEKE writer
 

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About Social Documentary Network

Social Documentary Network is a community for photographers, NGOs, journalists, editors, and students to create and explore visual stories on global themes. Since 2008, exhibits on SDN have explored topics as diverse as oil workers in the Niger River Delta, male sex workers in India, Central American immigrant women during their journey north, and Iraqi and Afghan refugees in Greece.Click here to view all of the exhibits. 

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