“Young people are generally less interested in the past, particularly in the polarizing past”

Prof. dr. HRVOJE KLASIĆ - historian, professor, author [Croatia]

GENERATION OF LIVED HISTORY

The war does not end with the cessation of the conflict. Survivors continue to carry it deep inside them. The way post-war society relates to war affects individuals and shapes transgenerational memory.

• How has the generation that lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region during the wars in the former Yugoslavia – and especially during the genocide in Srebrenica – experienced and shaped this history in the past 30 years: through personal memories, reflections, but also through narratives in the media, films, books, textbooks and rituals of remembrance?

"The generation you mention, however, we should say we are talking about several generations, certainly does not behave significantly differently from generations in history around the world who have experienced some form of trauma similar to this one, whether it is war, mass crimes, ethnic cleansing, even genocide. There is no dispute that this generation has dominated the creation of public narratives in the past 30 years, in the sense that personal or family experiences were much more important than scientific research, critical thinking, and especially self-criticism. I think this was to be expected, but it is time to start including these other means, i.e. scientific research, critical thinking, etc."

A GENERATION BORN IN HISTORY (THOSE BORN IN 1995)

Thirty years later, we are once again witnessing the shaping of history amidst political manipulations of narratives. That is why transgenerational memory is required to carry a culture of remembrance and responsibility to the truth – in the name of future generations who must learn how peace is built and preserved.

• How does a generation born in the year of the Srebrenica genocide today understand this history? And how did growing up in this heritage shape their sense of identity, memory, and responsibility?

"It is difficult for me to answer this question because I do not live in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is difficult for me to answer the question of what young citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina think today, but I can - if I may - draw a parallel with how young citizens of Croatia who were born during the Operation Storm, i.e. the Homeland War, think. My conclusion, as someone who deals with this period and who works with this generation on a daily basis, is that they are mostly uninterested, that they mostly do not know much, that what they know most they learn from family memories and stories, they do not know, they are not particularly interested and I would even say that they partly run away from this part of history because they are a little tired already. Again, I can make a comparison with the generation after World War II, those who were born in 1945 will later become the main rebels in 1968 because they have already had enough of stories about the war, about blood, about crimes, about national, religious, racial divisions. They wanted to live a normal life and burden themselves with the problems that burden young people of their generation in those societies where there was no trauma. I think that we have not learned a lesson here and, unfortunately, we now have generations who mostly gather informations in their families or on social networks. But less and less. Young people today are less interested in the past in general, and the polarizing past in particular. This is my experience from Croatia. Whether this is the case in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I cannot say for sure."

TRANSGENERATIONAL MEMORY DYNAMICS (1995-2025)

Society in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still marked by war traumas. Prevailing ethno-national policies keep citizens in fear, under constant threat of a new war – for their own interests. Politics has instrumentalized trauma.

• How – and whether – generations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the regions that lived through the wars in the former Yugoslavia, especially the events of 1995, and the generation born that same year have shaped mutual understanding of the past? To what extent are their views aligned today – and how do they differ?

"Again, I will start from the fact that, unfortunately or fortunately, these are experiences that we have already had throughout history in Europe and in the world, and mostly this is a conflict of generations. Not a literal conflict, but understand it symbolically. It's a misunderstanding. Thus, those who have lived in trauma are always critical of the younger ones who do not have enough respect, do not have enough interest. In principle, it is understandable that those born then cannot react in the same way to that trauma. This does not mean that they do not love their country or that they do not appreciate the sacrifice. Remember Đorđe Balašević's song "Count on us" in which he says we did not go to battles, we listen to records and play rock, but you can count on us. Because we were not in Srebrenica, in the Operation Storm or Vukovar, it does not mean that we are not patriots or that we do not love our homeland. I think we repeated bad experiences from the past. The generation that has been traumatized takes it upon itself to be the absolute authority. And when you count politicians, especially politicians who lived at that time, you see that they really monopolized the truth. There was no discussion even by scientists. Scientists were not allowed to question some things, let alone young people or their children."

REGIONAL FUTURE: TRANSGENERATIONAL MEMORY, HERITAGE OR TRAUMA (2025-2055)

Thirty years after the war, ethnic identity still dominates the civic. In post-war society, the structure of ethnically divided space often makes civic initiatives impossible, as they are automatically attributed an ethnic sign.

• How could political, social, educational and cultural development in Bosnia and Herzegovina – and more broadly in the region – affect how transgenerational memory will be preserved, reinterpreted or denied in the next 30 years?

"Bosnia and Herzegovina has major problems in both content and form. As much as I root for Bosnia and Herzegovina and as much as I respond to various initiatives, the fact is that the country is in principle weakening within itself. The fact is that you have half a country where a large number of people would prefer to leave that country tomorrow, who do not declare themselves as Bosnians and Herzegovinians or as citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but as citizens of Republika Srpska. That 's a big problem. The region is different. We have Croatia and Slovenia, which are in the European Union and NATO, some others would like to be, some just say that they would like to be, but in fact they would not want to be. All of this influences narratives about the past. Without the development of democracy and the institutions of the rule of law, and one of the prerequisites for this is free, critical education and the media, there is no possibility to talk about the past rationally, peacefully, calmly, to open a dialogue, to hear the other side, that it is not "us" and "them", that it is not "our crimes" and "their crimes". There is no such thing, not because education is bad, but because in this region democracy is still not at a level that would allow education and the media to be inclined to think critically about the past, and then about the future."

GLOBAL FUTURE: TRANSGENERATIONAL MEMORY, INDIFFERENCE OR REVISIONISM (1995-2025-2055)

In the modern world, geopolitics is rapidly conditioning historical narratives and transgenerational memory – openly trading influence in conflicts and party choices through daily-political revisionism.

• How could global political disruptions, conflicting international historical narratives, and changing norms on justice and human rights shape the ways in which knowledge of wartime events from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the region will be transmitted, challenged, or withheld across generations over the next 30 years?

"Every time brings its own conflicts. As a human species, we have shown that we do not learn. We usually say that history is the teacher of life. And I claim that it is, but we are very bad students. There is no generation in this area, in our closer neighborhood or somewhere a little further away that has not experienced some war, some trauma. There will still be wars and they will continue to influence thinking. Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region have been the focus for many years, they have been the primary interest of Europe and the international community. However, with the emergence of some new hotspots, the focus shifted elsewhere. It seems to me that neither Europe nor the world is particularly interested in the trauma of 20-30 years ago in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo or elsewhere. But the international community is not to blame. That's the way it's always been. We have to start processes from the inside. I think that too much time has already passed for us to get away with Brussels or Washington, these or them, not giving us something. We cannot constantly look for the culprit in someone else. Just as we were guilty of war, so should we be responsible for the peace in which we live. We're still not doing that. We will continue to look for excuses in others and not in ourselves, because it is easier that way. There will be conflicts, there will be wars. Circumstances will change, borders will change. Countries are likely to change as well. However, this does not mean that until now we have not been able to establish some rules of conduct when it comes to the attitude towards the past. Given that we are not, I am afraid that the world, in the direction it is headed, does not empower those who are in favor of dialogue, tolerance, peace and non-violence."



The opinions and insights expressed in this text reflect solely the views of the author. We publish these contributions to encourage reflection and open space for diverse perspectives on the topic of transgenerational memory in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region.