The Srebrenica flowers scheme was made to remind us that no mother should ever have to bury her son. This reminder carries a story and a great deal of sorrow.
This flower is worn to honour the victims of the massacre and it shows solidarity with the mothers of Srebrenica, Prijedor, Kozarac, Foča, Višegrad and other places in BiH where war crimes were committed against civilians.
The white petals represent suffering, with the green centre of the flower representing hope, while 11 petals represent 11 July 1995.
This flower was made in the hope of increasing awareness of the greatest suffering on European soil since World War II and because of that the flower symbolizes the fight against genocide.
The Srebrenica flowers were introduced for the first time on 1 July 2011, and were made by women from the association ”Gračaničko keranje” who believe that no mother in this world should ever have to bury her own child.
“We distributed around 15,000 flowers across BiH on that day. The idea for making these flowers was suggested by former reisu-l-ulema Mustafa ef. Cerić, because Srebrenica needed something to symbolize the innocent victims who were killed in the genocide and the fight against genocide,” said for Fena, Azemina Ahmedbegović, the president of the Association ”Gračaničko keranje.”
She also added that she doesn’t know how many flowers have been made to this date, just as we don’t know the exact number of victims. However, the aim is that each of the 350 members makes a flower for each of the Srebrenica victims.
“When we’re gone the flower will remain to tell a sad story about Srebrenica, because this story belongs to all of us,” she said.
She emphasized that one of their members, Jasmina Camdić first made a few samples of the flower. The flowers were made of silk and cotton before the final visual version of the Srebrenica flower was chosen.
The Association claims the copyright on the flower and controls the quality of the production. She added that it’s very important for the flower to not become commercialized in order to stay high-quality.
”The flowers are made by the women who are unemployed and who’re excellent in the art of handicraft, because the process of making the flower carries an important message that the hand of a woman has care and love towards their loved ones. Some of these women are alone because they’ve lost their husbands, fathers and sons. The flower helps them to gain economic stability and to carry on in a dignified manner,” explained Ahmedbegović.
The collective burial of 127 victims, including 12 juveniles will be performed on 11 July in the Memorial Centre in Potočari.
The youngest victim is 14 year-old Avdija (Emin) Memić. His remains were found in the Kamenica mass grave, in the area of Zvornik. He will be buried together with his uncle Abdurahman and his son Halil, who was sixteen at the moment of his death.
The oldest victim is Mustafa (Hajro) Hadžović. He was born in 1918, and his remains were found in the Kamenica-Zvornik mass grave.
Until now 6,377 victims have been buried in Potočari.
(Source: radiosarajevo.ba)
