BiH Presidency Member Željko Komšić participated in the Peace March and the central manifestation of remembrance of the victims of the Srebrenica genocide, held in Stuttgart, organized by the Stuttgart Srebrenica – Gedenkinitiative e.V. association, where he addressed several thousand participants of the March.
“The Srebrenica genocide is one of the greatest wounds to the soul of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the soul of Bosniaks, to the soul of Bosnians and Herzegovinians and all normal people in our country,” said Komšić.
According to him, even thirty-one years after the genocide, the trauma is deep. The issue of the attitude towards genocide is one of the most important social issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And it will remain so for a long time.
“Although the policy that led to the genocide is extremely important, because the genocide was committed for political reasons, we should not forget that it is also a question of the human or inhuman attitude towards the crime, the inhuman attitude of people towards people. The truth about the genocide has been legally established. This fact does not require any recognition from anyone. It exists and will exist regardless of whether someone recognizes it or not. Those who turn a blind eye to this fact on a human level are doing it to their own detriment, because they cannot hurt the victims with their opinion,” said Komšić.
He points out that for the victims, the opinion of genocide deniers is no longer important.
“Those who survived the genocide have other focuses and it is not even in their minds to be interested in the opinions of genocide deniers. Among the survivors are a large number who have achieved excellence in their lives and careers. Although their experience is fraught with great tragedy, those who survived the genocide and their descendants did not remain in the status of victims. Moreover, many of them are in the status of creators, in the status of role models for new generations. We saw it at the last world championship, where the descendants of those who survived the genocide spread the glory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was not only touching, it was not only a matter of pride and hope, it was a message to all those who counted on the disappearance and extermination of that nation. The message that such villains heard and received was: you failed,” said Komšić.
As he says, not only did they fail, but a new generation of people was created, in their identity, raised not on hatred and revenge but on love for the homeland.
“For the first time after thirty years, on the horizon of the future of our country, the outlines of victory can be seen, although the fight for the country is in full swing. However, it is now conducted with much more cheerfulness, with the awareness that the fate of our country is in our hands and that our result depends on our efforts, not on the results of others. Along with the memory of all those who were brutally and cowardly killed blindfolded and tied with wire during the genocidal operation, I want to pay tribute here to all those who made their way to free territory. Their feat deserves to be treated by history in a special way, because each of the survivors carries with him his own story, more complex and grandiose than all the movies and novels written on the topic of genocide. We can still learn a lot from these people, because they know what it really means to never surrender and give up in the fight for the country, homeland, or state that is the only guarantee of survival for all of us who love Bosnia and Herzegovina, no matter where we are and wherever we are,” said Komšić.
