Kravitca executions

If you visit Srebrenica and want to understand what happened there during the very fatal week of July 1995, then have a look at the left, a few kilometres before you arrive in Bratunac and turn left towards Potocari and Srebrenica. You will see the warehouses of Kravitca. The details of what happened there can be read in this wikipidia link.  The short version is that roughly 1000 men and boys was locked in for two days. After the two days, soldiers working for Ratko Mladić threw hand grenades as well as using other weapons at their prisoners and killed all but 3 people. The 3 people pretended to be dead and waited until dark before managing to escape. Today, local farmers uses the warehouses to store equipment and hay for their animals, as seen in the top photograph. It appears surreal given the amount of bullet and shell marks that are still present on the buildings.

The facade of the warehouse with goats eating grass just in front

Interior of the warehouse

Saliha Osmanovic

Saliha Osmanovic at her house. I met her and at her house last week.
She is an amazingly strong woman.

"Saliha Osmanovic spent the war in Srebrenica with her husband and two sons. Osmanovic's youngest son was 17 years old when he was killed on 6 July 1995 in an artillery attack on the town. As Mladic's troops got closer to Srebrenica the exodus from the town began. The women, children and elderly sought shelter in the UN compound in Potocari. Men of military age took to the woods hoping to reach the liberated territory. On 11 July 1995, the witness went to Potocari with her father-in-law. The witness's elder son, 18-year old Nermin, and her husband Ramo headed out through the woods towards Tuzla. Nermin and Ramo were captured by the Serbs en route and executed. Their remains were identified in 2009. In the footage taken on 13 July 1995, Ramo Osmanovic is seen calling his son Nermin and other Bosniaks to surrender; he had been ordered to do that by the Serb soldiers." (You see it about 3 minutes into the linked movie "A Cry from the Grave").
(http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/mothers-from-srebrenica-tell-their-story.29.html?news_id=14958)
#bosnia #srebrenica #genocide #storytelling #marsmira #humanrights #photojournalism #documentary #potocari #july11 #20years #nikon #d4 #reportage #salihaosmanovic #lifeaftergenocide

Sarajevo July 2013.

I am back in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a different sort of a trip this time. More to come, here are some observations from Sarajevo.

Ramadan in Sarajevo- people waiting in line to buy bread as it is getting darker during this years Ramadan in Sarajevo

Stray dogs relaxing at the main square (Baščaršija square) in the old town.

The refurbished library looks fantastic. The interior still needs to be done.