Srebrenica Travel Guide

Srebrenica was colony of tribes which, searching for silver ore had chosen fertile fields along the river of Drina and safe crags of Javornik suitable for war and easy defense. Srebrenica, ten days of riding a horse away from Dubrovnik was very important area in the medieval Bosnia due to its valuable deposits of noble ore, so that travellers from all over the world visited it leaving at this and traces of various cultures. Seen from the military point of view, its significance was priceless since in the immediate vicinity of the river Drina it was one of the boundary areas. Franciscans' arrival to srebrenica verified in a way the border between Easter and Western civilization estabished long ago. The province of Bosna Srebrena or Bosna Argentaria formed as a Franciscan settlement at the very East, has proved the significance of this area and recognised the river od Drina to be the border between the two worlds. Srebrenica was also ascertained to be the bundary strip on this border. Wars, changes of rulers, occupations, rare and scarce freedom and safety in the harsh mountains have been shackling through centuries the spirit of this Bosnian small-town. Nevertheless, it maintained and defined itself as a specific one, established by its fighting mentality, striving for survival. In Bosnia, in which Srebrenica has been maintaining during the last two millennia, this fight was permanent. Both from East and from the West have always come warriors wishing to take the territory, power, silver, the health resort Guber and the position on Drina. Srebrenica has never won this fight in its entirety. From time to time, it proved that the crafts, farming, culture and art above all, have found a fertile soil for their existing, but the periods of history allowing this town to try to live were so rare and short.

Arrival of Turks in the fifteenth century will determine the latest existing of this town, located on the crossroads of oriental Islamic cultural and civilisation circle and Western-European, Christian circle, so that the conglomerate of religions and cultures created through the history will be for next several centuries one of the crucial terms of reference for existence on this region. Islam nad Christianity will live in Srebrenica, after all, as in the whole Bosnia and Herzegovina in co-relation as it is on the Balkan, unknown for the most countries or even impossible to be imaginable.

National conglomerate, founded and guaranteed by multiethnic determinations has especially become prominent during the last decades, and especially after the Second World War, when the history of Srebrenica people, religions and cultures became the essence of the existence within the forty years, having become so in the post war period a paradigm of the total existence of Srebrenica, capable of being kept only within the multi-ethnic framework. The end of the eightieth years of this century found Srebrenica in its efforts to take step the world based on its economic development. The population of this town, prassed by the hill-slopes just adjacent to the river Drina. The remaining thirty thousands which lived in the surrounding settlements organised their life on the work in modernized facoties and on the agriculture which assured living dor one fourth of the citizens in the Municipality of Srebrenica. Since the mid of the last decade, there was recorded a sudden growth of departures to the whole ex-Yugoslavia for studying, so that by the beginning of the nineties, a great number of educated young men was ready to lead Srebrenica to another, more prosperous direction, as to catch the step with the rest of the world. But, the preiod from 1990 to 1991 brought uncertainty for many young educated people, so that just tihs population has been leaving Srebrenica during these two years. In the second half of 1991, it was evident that the Greater Serbia nationalists have prepared the aggression against Bosnia and Podrinje aiming, based on the hegemonistic concept of Serbia, to occupy whole Bosnia and Herzegovina and join it by force to Serbia, exterminating so Bosniaks both biologically and spiritually. In summer 1992, the units of the Yugoslav National Army together with the armed units of Arkan, Mauzer and other criminals supported by the collaborationists from Bosnia and Herzegovina commanded from Belegrade occupied Srebrenica. These days, from this town and surrounding villages there were expelled twenty thousands Bosniaks. After the Movement of Resistance started and after the defence units have been established in the surrounding settlements, the Serb occupier was Forced to withdraw form Srebrenica.

The Serb units tried to occupy Srebrenica repeatedly by the end of the year, but without success. By the beginning of 1993 the territory between Zvornik and Srebrenica definietly fell into Serbs' arms, and the most part of the population from this area looked for shelter in Srebrenica. At that time, When demilitarization of Srebrenica was signed and when this area was put under the protection of international forces (UNPROFOR) on the basis of the Resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council, there were more than 40.000 citizens in Srebrenica or five times more than before aggression commenced. This is the moment when unseen suffering of civilians started. Although the United Nations formally protected Srebrenica, Bosniaks were killed every day in this «safe area» by the shell directed by the Serb units to the town from heary artillery. Permanent hunger marked the life in Srebrenica till the end of June 1995, when sudden and heavy attack started on Srebrenica «safe area» protected by the United Nations. The Serb units under the command of general Ratko Mladić conquered Srebrenica on July 11 1995 in the presence of the Netherlands units in UNPROFOR. The local people has no possibility to start defending, since all the weapons were taken away from them in 1993 and stored in a UN depot. The same day, hundreds of civilians were killed whereby and unprecented golhotha in the new history of the world began for tenths thousands people. Ten thousands of them will remain for ever without any trace in the forests between Srebrenica and Tuzla or between Srebrenica and Kladanj. There are tenths mass graves and scattered Bosniacs' bones, especially scattered about heads evidencing the traces of murder whether by strangling or by cutting the throat. After the Srebrenica tragedy, nothing is like before, any more. Srebrenica will remain a bloody seal of the twentieth century. It is a true Bosniaks' and Bosnian «Guernica».

There, in the «safe area», political and military officials of the United Nations headed by Akashi and Janvier simply did not want to protect helpless civilians from the massacre, although they should have done it and what they have been very well paid for!