Life

Remembering the lives lost in Bosnia

July 21, 2017

Amal Al-Sibai

Saudi Gazette

ŠTO TE NEMA is a public monument created as a response to Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II—the systematic killing of 8,372 Muslim men and boys in the UN-protected safe area of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July of 1995.

ŠTO TE NEMA travels to a new location annually, bringing together different communities to commemorate the Srebrenica genocide collectively and in a public space on its anniversary.

The monument consists of a growing collection of fildžani, small porcelain coffee cups, continuously collected and donated by Bosnian families from all over the world. The number of fildžani roughly corresponds to the growing number of bodies found, identified, and buried to date. Every July 11th, the public is invited to participate by placing the collected cups on the ground and filling them with Bosnian coffee prepared on site throughout the day.

Pouring Bosnian coffee in the small, coffee cups in memory of the lost lives is symbolic. When the wives of those killed were asked what they missed most about their husbands, they said they all missed having coffee together the most.

Bosnian coffee is a part of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian identity. It is the symbol of the country and a part of its tradition. Bosnia and Herzegovina has a long tradition of coffee drinking.

Alma, in the town of Mostar, tells tourists who visit her coffee shop, “Here, coffee isn’t about the drinking. It’s about the relaxing. It’s about being with people you enjoy. Talk to your friend. Listen to what they have to say. Learn about their lives. Take a sip. If your coffee isn’t strong enough, gently swirl your cup to agitate the grounds. If it’s too strong, just wait. Let it settle. It gives you more time to talk anyway. While you’re waiting, nibble the Turkish delight candy that comes with your coffee.”

This July, the public monument, ŠTO TE NEMA, took place in Chicago. At the same time, thousands gathered in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica to commemorate Europe’s worst atrocity since the Second World War. The remains of 71 recently identified victims were laid to rest as mourners observed the twenty-second anniversary of the massacre. Mourners prayed for their loved ones. The victims were found from among 80 mass graves. The remains of more than 1,000 other victims have yet to be located.According to the AFP, 65- year old Fata Omerovic regularly attends the commemorations where she already buried her two sons and husband.

“We know at least where their bones are,” whispered Omerovic, who has only one daughter left, while caressing the three white gravestones.

“We come here, pray, look at gravestones... It’s more difficult for those who didn’t find their children and husbands,” she said.

More than 8,000 Muslims were murdered at the hands of Bosnian Serbs, their bodies dumped in mass graves over the course of the eleven day massacre in 1995. It was one of numerous war crimes that the Army of the Republika Srpska is accused of committing over the course of the conflict.

In addition to the murders, thousands of women, children and elderly people were forcibly deported, and a large number of women were raped.

The United Nations, which attempted to pass a resolution in 2015 condemning the massacre as genocide, has previously called the events in Srebrenica “the greatest atrocity on European soil since the Second World War”.


July 21, 2017
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