The World
Remembers
Srebrenica


Learn more about the Srebrenica Genocide

Learn more
From 11th to 13th July,
1995 in Srebrenica
Over 8,372 People
Were Killed
20,000 People
Were Forced to Leave Their Homes

World on Srebrenica

The world's response to Srebrenica has been marked by widespread condemnation of the atrocities, international legal proceedings to hold perpetrators accountable, and ongoing debates about the effectiveness of global intervention mechanisms.

“There is no place in Europe for genocide denial, revisionism, and glorification of war criminals.”

“Today we commemorate the Srebrenica genocide of July 1995. This heinous crime left deep scars in Bosnia and Herzegovina and across the European continent.”

“Srebrenica Memorial Day offers a poignant moment to reflect and remember those dark days in July 1995 when more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were murdered because of their faith.”


How Did the World Respond?

Find out more

Srebrenica Genocide
Eleven Lessons for the Future

After World War II, Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the six federal republics of Yugoslavia. Forty years of relative peace slowly started to dissolve after the death of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980, when ethnic tensions began rising.

View in Exhibition

“‘It took you a long time to find them, didn't it? Three months! And so near to Venice! All you people could think about was poor, sophisticated Sarajevo. Ha-ha!’ And then, with a chill in his voice: ‘None of you ever had your holidays at Omarska, did you? No Olympic Games in Prijedor!”

View in Exhibition

Srebrenica was conquered by the Novi Sad Corps of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) in April 1992. Small bands of Bosniak resistance fighters in the surrounding mountains regrouped and, by late May, managed to push the Army out.

View in Exhibition

“There will be no retreat when it comes to the Srebrenica enclave, we must advance. The enemy’s life has to be made unbearable and their temporary stay in the enclave impossible so that they leave en masse as soon as possible, realising that they cannot survive there.”

View in Exhibition

A majority of the Bosniak men and boys in Srebrenica chose not to surrender to the Serbs, since they knew that would be the equivalent of suicide. A decision was made to try and break through towards the town of Tuzla, which was under Bosnian Government control. An estimated 15,000 Bosniak men and boys gathered and formed a column to make their way through the woods.

View in Exhibition

Bosniak men and boys who were captured or who surrendered were blindfolded and their hands were tied behind their backs with wire. They were then executed at one of several locations: in Orahovac, Petkovci, Branjevo, Pilica, Kozluk, or Kravica.

View in Exhibition

The bodies of executed Bosniaks were dumped into hidden mass graves dug by the Bosnian Serb Army, to conceal the crimes it had committed.

View in Exhibition

In 1996, the Bosnian Government established an expert group to search for missing persons who had been victims of mass atrocities.

View in Exhibition

Today, the Srebrenica genocide is still vociferously denied in many Bosnian Serb and Serbian academic and political circles

View in Exhibition

“By killing all the military aged men, the Bosnian Serb forces effectively destroyed the community of the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica as such and eliminated all likelihood that it could ever re-establish itself on that territory ...”

View in Exhibition

A peculiar aspect of modern genocide is the celebration phase. In today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, many of the institutions responsible for perpetrating genocide still exist and function, and convicted war criminals are honored as heroes.

View in Exhibition

1 Antecedents

After World War II, Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the six federal republics of Yugoslavia. Forty years of relative peace slowly started to dissolve after the death of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980, when ethnic tensions began rising.

View in Exhibition

2 The Ethnic Cleansing Campaign: 1992

“‘It took you a long time to find them, didn't it? Three months! And so near to Venice! All you people could think about was poor, sophisticated Sarajevo. Ha-ha!’ And then, with a chill in his voice: ‘None of you ever had your holidays at Omarska, did you? No Olympic Games in Prijedor!”

View in Exhibition

3 Life Under Siege

Srebrenica was conquered by the Novi Sad Corps of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) in April 1992. Small bands of Bosniak resistance fighters in the surrounding mountains regrouped and, by late May, managed to push the Army out.

View in Exhibition

4 The Path to Genocide

“There will be no retreat when it comes to the Srebrenica enclave, we must advance. The enemy’s life has to be made unbearable and their temporary stay in the enclave impossible so that they leave en masse as soon as possible, realising that they cannot survive there.”

View in Exhibition

5 The March of Death

A majority of the Bosniak men and boys in Srebrenica chose not to surrender to the Serbs, since they knew that would be the equivalent of suicide. A decision was made to try and break through towards the town of Tuzla, which was under Bosnian Government control. An estimated 15,000 Bosniak men and boys gathered and formed a column to make their way through the woods.

View in Exhibition

6 Executions

Bosniak men and boys who were captured or who surrendered were blindfolded and their hands were tied behind their backs with wire. They were then executed at one of several locations: in Orahovac, Petkovci, Branjevo, Pilica, Kozluk, or Kravica.

View in Exhibition

7 Mass Graves

The bodies of executed Bosniaks were dumped into hidden mass graves dug by the Bosnian Serb Army, to conceal the crimes it had committed.

View in Exhibition

8 The Search for Missing Persons

In 1996, the Bosnian Government established an expert group to search for missing persons who had been victims of mass atrocities.

View in Exhibition

9 Denial

Today, the Srebrenica genocide is still vociferously denied in many Bosnian Serb and Serbian academic and political circles

View in Exhibition

10 Legacy

“By killing all the military aged men, the Bosnian Serb forces effectively destroyed the community of the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica as such and eliminated all likelihood that it could ever re-establish itself on that territory ...”

View in Exhibition

11 Triumphalism

A peculiar aspect of modern genocide is the celebration phase. In today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, many of the institutions responsible for perpetrating genocide still exist and function, and convicted war criminals are honored as heroes.

View in Exhibition


Explore all the lessons

View online exhibition

Genocide Verdicts


Learn more about other genocide verdicts

See all

Protected Witness

This story is about a man born in Srebrenica in 1960, who was captured along with other men and transferred to a school in Petkovci, where he witnessed mass executions and murders.

Hasan Hasanović

Not having found all the body parts, Hasan buried him without the skull, one foot, and one hand

Muhamed Memić

"The last time the three of us were together was in the early morning hours of July 11, 1995, in the forest above Kravica"

Listen to other stories

See all survival stories

Eleven Lessons for
the Future

On the 23rd anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide against Bosniaks in July 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Islamic Community is holding an exhibition titled "Srebrenica Genocide: Eleven Lessons for the Future."

View Online Exhibition