On the date that symbolizes the victory of good over evil and the erasure of borders, we analyze why fascism and nationalism have not been defeated even today.
In a country built on anti-fascist foundations, the key question arises – have we learned anything from the past or are we just repeating the same patterns in a new form?
“This society is first and foremost faced with the manipulation of anti-fascism, where today, due to certain political relations, primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina, you can declare a fascist movement anti-fascist, thanks to the political majority in certain parliaments, without anyone being able to dispute that,” said historian and senior research associate at the Institute of History of the University of Sarajevo Jasmin Medić, Federalna writes.
“I think it is a constant struggle in which neo-fascism, or neo-Nazism, now appears in some other forms,” said writer and journalist Ahmed Burić.
If the struggle is constant, then the responsibility is also constant. Because the world that promised “never again” more than 80 years ago is now living the “not my problem” narrative. So after dozens of wars and millions of deaths, we are once again witnessing accusations of genocide against a people and unanswered calls for help.
Divisions as a system
We are clearly bad students of history, and bad students don’t just make mistakes – they repeat them. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, these mistakes have a recognizable form: divisions that have become a system. A system in which established facts from the verdicts of international courts are denied and relativized, convicted war criminals are glorified and the genocide in Srebrenica is denied.
“We have an open form of neo-fascism, or segregation, which we have seen in the sphere of education for many years. There are modalities such as two schools under one roof or the fact that not all children throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina are allowed to study their mother tongue,” said Elvis Fejzić, a professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Sarajevo.
“We are a radical society. We have a violent pattern of speech in public space, everything is divided into this and that variant, and there are, of course, ideological conflicts. Historical revisionism is very obvious,” said journalist Štefica Galić.
The line between patriotism and nationalism
In such an environment, the line between patriotism and nationalism becomes blurred. Diversity is not seen as an advantage, but as a dividing line.
“This construction of the ethnic division of Bosnia and Herzegovina into Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks is no longer just a straitjacket, it is now a noose around the neck and sooner or later it must fall,” said Burić.
“In a multinational state, where you have different heterogeneous foundations, it is quite evident that civic representation must be the point at which unity is achieved. On the other hand, the citizen is the bearer of sovereignty, not any collectivity,” said Fejzić.
Antifascism as an obligation
There is no compromise between division and living together. One excludes the other. The past gives us a new chance to learn again and again. The question is whether we will use it and in what way.
“It is the duty of every anti-fascist to fight, to face injustice, ignorance and what, unfortunately, is a value today – nationalism and only money,” said Galić.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has already chosen anti-fascism as its foundation. Its value today is not measured by words, but by how much it is present in real life – among people, not only in dates.
