{"id":137348,"date":"2016-01-28T11:13:34","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T10:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.recom.link\/?p=137348"},"modified":"2016-01-28T11:14:56","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T10:14:56","slug":"silence-and-denial-in-visegrad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/","title":{"rendered":"Silence and Denial in Vi\u0161egrad"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

The Bosnian war ended 20 years ago, but the eastern town of Vi\u0161egrad still struggles over its collective history. Local authorities wanted to demolish a house on Pionirska Street, where 70 Muslim civilians were burned alive. Protests put the decision on hold, but a permanent solution has yet to be found.<\/p>\n

\n
Text and photos By Marta Vidal, Balkan Diskurs<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Pionirska House where 70 Bosniak civilians were locked and burned alive (Credit: Marta Vidal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

On 14 June 1992, 70 Muslim civilians were taken by a group of armed Serbs to a house on Pionirska Street in the eastern Bosnian town of Vi\u0161egrad. They were locked in the basement, where the carpet beneath their feet was set ablaze. At least 59 people were burned to death.<\/p>\n

A few days after the first fire, on 27 June 1992, in a house in Bikavac, Vi\u0161egrad, arsonists lit another fire, which killed 60 civilians \u2013 again, all Bosnian Muslims. The house in Bikavac was destroyed, but on Pionirska Street the house of death, now a memorial to the victims, remains. It is one of the few memorials that exist for the Muslim civilians murdered by Serb forces in Vi\u0161egrad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the all too long, sad and wretched history of man\u2019s inhumanity to man, the Pionirska Street and Bikavac fires must rank high,\u201d said presiding judge Patrick Robinson when delivering the first instance verdict for Milan Luki\u0107 and his cousin Sredoje Luki\u0107, who were convicted of various crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). \u201cThere is a unique cruelty in expunging all traces of the individual victims, which must heighten the gravity ascribed to these crimes,\u201d the judge stated. Milan Luki\u0107 was found guilty of persecutions, murder, extermination, cruel treatment and inhumane acts and was sentenced to life in prison. He was also found responsible for the murder of 59 Muslim women, children and elderly people in the house on Pionirska Street.<\/p>\n

\"The
The entrance to the basement of Pionirska House (Credit: Marta Vidal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of Luki\u0107, \u201cSome people here think he is a hero, others think he is bad,\u201d says a young Serb boy who lives close to Pionirska Street. His family moved to Vi\u0161egrad at the beginning of the war, and his mother witnessed the fire from her house. \u201cLuki\u0107 did it,\u201d the boy says, while walking with us to the house.<\/p>\n

Recently restored and painted white, the memorial house shows a commemorative plaque honoring all those who died there. At the entrance to the basement were dried flowers that had been left to honor the victims.<\/p>\n

\"A
A commemorative plaque honors the victims (Credit: Marta Vidal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Local authorities want to demolish Pionirska House to construct a road, which would erase this memorial to the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place in Vi\u0161egrad during the war. The house was scheduled for destruction in December 2013. Protests put the decision on hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed expropriation and demolition of the house is brutally indicative of genocide denial in Vi\u0161egrad,\u201d says David Pettigrew, Professor of Philosophy and Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Southern Connecticut State University. \u201cThe local authorities are looking for an excuse to demolish the house in order erase the memory of the atrocities that were committed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The abandoned garden in Pionirska house (Credit: Marta Vidal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Professor Pettigrew first visited Vi\u0161egrad in July 2010, when he was invited to accompany the Missing Persons Institute (MPI) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) during their exhumations along the banks Drina River. In 2010, work on the Bajina Basta hydroelectric dam had caused the river level to drop, so experts from the MPI and ICMP thought it was highly likely they would find the remains of victims who had been murdered on the Mehmed Pa\u0161a Sokolovi\u0107 Bridge in Vi\u0161egrad and thrown into the river. \u201cUpon reaching the riverbank, we immediately found human bones,\u201d the professor recalls.<\/p>\n

In March 2014, Professor Pettigrew visited the memorial house on Pionirska Street with activist Bakira Hase\u010di\u0107, who had participated in rebuilding the house to prevent its destruction in 2013. Police intimidated the activist and Mrs. Hase\u010di\u0107 received a court order with a fine for her part in rebuilding the house. She believes the local authorities are using the house as a \u201cpolitical strategy\u201d, and says, \u201cIt is a humiliation the victims are going through again.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Pionirska House is in danger of being demolished, there exists a statue dedicated to Serb soldiers in the city center. \u201cThe statue in the middle of Vi\u0161egrad that honors the perpetrators is just another example of genocide denial and psychological intimidation designed to re-write history and discourage refugees from returning to their former homes,\u201d says Professor Pettigrew. He recently wrote to Samantha Power, the American Ambassador to the United Nations, to express concern about the Vi\u0161egrad municipality\u2019s plan to destroy Pionirska House.<\/p>\n

\"Flowers
Flowers placed at the entrance of the basement to honor the victims (Credit: Marta Vidal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of Vi\u0161egrad Bakira Hase\u010di\u0107 says, \u201cIt\u2019s my hometown, but I feel it has been abandoned by the country.\u201d During the war she witnessed terrible atrocities and was a victim of sexual violence. Some of her family members were killed during the ethnic cleansing campaign. According to the ICTY, Vi\u0161egrad was subjected to \u201cone of the most comprehensive and ruthless campaigns of ethnic cleansing\u201d.<\/p>\n

After the war, Hase\u010di\u0107 became a prominent human rights activist and founder of the Association of Women Victims of War in Sarajevo. The aim of the association is to give support to war-time victims of sexual harassment and rape. \u201cIn this association anyone can be a member, we don\u2019t care about ethnicity,\u201d says Hase\u010di\u0107. \u201cIt is multi-ethnic and multinational\u2026 War criminals have no ethnicity, they are just criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bakira Hase\u010di\u0107 now lives in Sarajevo, but often visits Vi\u0161egrad since she has a house near the town. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid to go there anymore. There are no guns,\u201d she explains. However, Hase\u010di\u0107 admits that she still feels psychologically intimidated during her visits. \u201cThere are many things that bother me there. There are memorials to perpetrators. We see war criminals in the streets.\u201d According to Hase\u010di\u0107, the fact that many perpetrators have not faced criminal charges and walk freely in the town is in and of itself a form of intimidation as well as a violation of the right to return that was defined by the Dayton Agreement. As a result, \u201cThere was a project for the return of refugees, but it didn\u2019t work.\u201d Although more returned to the surrounding villages, only a few Muslims returned to Vi\u0161egrad.<\/p>\n

Vi\u0161egrad\u2019s Tourism Office refused to answer questions about the memorials in the town. According to Professor Pettigrew, the silence about the war is part of a \u201cculture of denial\u201d prevalent throughout the Republika Srpska.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t talk about the war,\u201d says a waiter working in the spa of Hotel Vilina Vlas, located five kilometers outside Vi\u0161egrad. The hotel served as one of the main detention camps where rape and torture occurred during the war. According to the waiter, \u201cThe war is in the past, we don\u2019t talk about it. The past is past, we look toward the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A Muslim cemetery in Vi\u0161egrad (Credit: Marta Vidal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, there seems to be little future for Muslims in Vi\u0161egrad. The town is now almost entirely populated by Bosnian Serbs. The cemetery seems to be the only land left to Bosnian Muslims, or Bosniaks as they are often called. Most mosques were destroyed during the war, and the two that remain are empty. The Muslim cemetery was closed when we tried to visit it, but from the green gate we could see the dates inscribed on the white tombstones: 1992, 1992, 1992. Between May and July 1992 at least 2,000 Bosniaks were massacred in Vi\u0161egrad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel the town is not mine anymore,\u201d says Hase\u010di\u0107. She wants to build a gate around Pionirska House and organize an exhibition of photographs of the victims on the first floor of the house, but she faces objections and threats from those now living in her hometown. This does not keep her from fighting for justice. \u201cI will continue this fight as long as I live,\u201d states Hase\u010di\u0107.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Published on Balkan Diskurs <\/a>January 25, 2016<\/a>)<\/time><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bosnian war ended 20 years ago, but the eastern town of Vi\u0161egrad still struggles over its collective history. Local… ","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":137349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[594],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transitional-justice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSilence and Denial in Vi\u0161egrad - REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Silence and Denial in Vi\u0161egrad - REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Bosnian war ended 20 years ago, but the eastern town of Vi\u0161egrad still struggles over its collective history. Local...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ZaREKOM.PerKOMRA.ForRECOM\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-28T10:13:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-28T10:14:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/The-abandoned-garden-in-Pionirska-house-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Recom Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@REKOM_KOMRA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@REKOM_KOMRA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Recom Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/\",\"name\":\"Silence and Denial in Vi\u0161egrad - REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/The-abandoned-garden-in-Pionirska-house-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-28T10:13:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-28T10:14:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b0fce47cdf986c8b4194146b69999a3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/The-abandoned-garden-in-Pionirska-house-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/The-abandoned-garden-in-Pionirska-house-1.jpg\",\"width\":3000,\"height\":2000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Silence and Denial in Vi\u0161egrad\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/\",\"name\":\"REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b0fce47cdf986c8b4194146b69999a3\",\"name\":\"Recom Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b345ee03975bccfc62280b0fd1ffd916?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b345ee03975bccfc62280b0fd1ffd916?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Recom Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/author\/jelanag\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Silence and Denial in Vi\u0161egrad - REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Silence and Denial in Vi\u0161egrad - REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM","og_description":"The Bosnian war ended 20 years ago, but the eastern town of Vi\u0161egrad still struggles over its collective history. Local...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/","og_site_name":"REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ZaREKOM.PerKOMRA.ForRECOM\/","article_published_time":"2016-01-28T10:13:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-28T10:14:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3000,"height":2000,"url":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/The-abandoned-garden-in-Pionirska-house-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Recom Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@REKOM_KOMRA","twitter_site":"@REKOM_KOMRA","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Recom Editor","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/","url":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/","name":"Silence and Denial in Vi\u0161egrad - REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/The-abandoned-garden-in-Pionirska-house-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-28T10:13:34+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-28T10:14:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b0fce47cdf986c8b4194146b69999a3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/The-abandoned-garden-in-Pionirska-house-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/The-abandoned-garden-in-Pionirska-house-1.jpg","width":3000,"height":2000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/silence-and-denial-in-visegrad\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Silence and Denial in Vi\u0161egrad"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/","name":"REKOM ~ KOMRA ~ RECOM","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b0fce47cdf986c8b4194146b69999a3","name":"Recom Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b345ee03975bccfc62280b0fd1ffd916?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b345ee03975bccfc62280b0fd1ffd916?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Recom Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/author\/jelanag\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137348"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137348"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137355,"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137348\/revisions\/137355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recom.link\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}