On the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, personal possessions owned by a teacher killed in the 1995 massacres were exhibited in a commemorative display at BIRN’s Reporting House in Prishtina.
An old wristwatch and a broken pair of glasses that belonged to English language teacher Rasid Fazlic, a victim of the Srebrenica massacres, were put on display in a symbolic commemoration on Thursday at BIRN’s Reporting House venue in Prishtina.
Fazlic’s belongings, donated by his daughter Amra Begic, were brought from Srebrenica to mark the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, an annual commemoration decreed by a United Nations General Assembly resolution in May this year.
Srebrenica massacre victim’s belongings are placed at Prishtina’s reporting House on July 11, 2024. Photo: BIRN
“The artefacts we are showcasing here belong to a teacher who, when teaching his schoolchildren, did not care about their names, ethnic backgrounds or religious faiths,” Mensur Bektic, a representative of Srebrenica victims’ families, said.
Bektic welcomed the Kosovo government’s move to proclaim July 11 as Srebrenica Genocide Commemoration Day.
Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Emilija Redzepi said at the exhibition that more than 8,000 people from Srebrenica were killed in 1995 because “Serb forces thought that these people who belong to another ethnic background and another religious faith should not exist”.
“Unfortunately, it is difficult, but we have to talk about it because we cannot forget. If we forget, it could be repeated,” Redzepi said.
These artefacts are part of the permanent exhibition in Srebrenica memorial room “The lives behind the fields of death”, entirely conceived and implemented by BIRN Bosnia and Hercegovina.