Yugoslav Holocaust
was taken over without any resistance from the Dutch army. Between July 11, 1995, and July 16, 1995, General Mladic’s army killed more than 7,000 Muslim men and threw their bodies in mass graves. The Dutch government, after 7 years, finally admitted in April 2002, that it could have done more to prevent the atrocities that ensued. (Brown 1) Before the war, Srebrenica was one of the most developed towns in Eastern Bosnia. Now only one in 10 members of the workforce has a paid job, and the average monthly salary is no more than $100. (Tmusic 4)
On November 21, 1995, the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reached an agreement in Dayton, Ohio.
It is known as the Dayton Peace Accord. It is not only an agreement to cease-fire; it is an agreement to respect one another and to tolerate each other. Bosnia and Herzegovina is now divided into two: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in control of the Muslims and Croats, and the Republika Srpska, which is under Bosnian-Serb rule. Life in Bosnia is very different nowadays from the times of communist rule. The state does not provide like it used to, now Bosnians have to work hard and they cannot expect something in return from their government. For now the international community is helping rebuild the country but that is not going to last forever.
It really is a shame that such a beautiful country with so much history and culture has to go through such nightmare. Like World War II, the Bosnia war should serve as a moral lesson. “Never again” really does mean “Never again.” The exact number of Bosnians who perished is unknown at the moment and probably we are never going to have an exact number. The atrocities that befell those people were genocide. One thing is certain: the global community has to remain involved so that it will never happen again.