“There are no prospects for the imminent development of transgenerational memory in the service of truth”

OZREN LAZIĆ - member of the CK13 collective (Youth Center CK13, an alternative socio-cultural center in Novi Sad) [Serbia]

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?

"Speaking about my own experience, I have knowledge about the events during the wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina thanks to the witnesses of time through photographs, exhibitions, memorial centers, monuments, books, films, exchanges, interviews and personal acquaintances with people active in the field of peacebuilding. I must emphasize here that my experience rests on working in the civil sector and ACTIVELY dealing with these topics. In my opinion, if there were no civil society organizations actively working in this field, my "knowledge" about wartime events would be reduced to information from the propaganda of the ruling elite and the regime's media.

Those who seek the truth will find it.

If I did not have this framework that I am looking for, I would be exposed exclusively to the interpretation of the Serbian media and political establishment. Warmongers and instigators still have power in Serbia, many war criminals live freely, and many of them with benefits. In this context, the picture of the war in the 90s is tendentious in the sense that the victims of the Serbian people are highlighted, while the crimes committed in our name are denied and hushed up. As far as I understand, official narratives are competitive in terms of who suffered more and who deserves the status of the greatest victim. In this sense, each country marks its own dates of suffering, its own victims (often presenting them in an unobjective way), which contributes to parallel narratives and commemorations. As far as I am aware, a similar situation exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Joint commemorations and monuments that are not ethnically homogeneous are rare.

As for the genocide in Srebrenica, it historically remains the biggest taboo in Serbia.

I was born in 1984 and was in the first grade of elementary school when the war started in Croatia. My father was sent to Vukovar. He never told me about it. In that sense, in the circle of the family, I was condemned to silence. I believe that in other families, difficult stories from the war remain one of the few sources of knowledge about the war."

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?

"From my experience and insight, those under the age of 30 in Serbia know very little about the war events of the 90s. They know that there was a war, however, there is no curriculum in schools that would point them to the facts, so they are influenced by the interpretation of their teachers/professors, family, politicians and media/propaganda. If we talk about the legacy of war, I think that young people are less determined by war than their parents, they are simply less affected by it, because they were born after. I think that this is a special case for young people in Serbia because there was no war in Serbia and Serbia is de facto the geopolitical loser of all the wars of the 90s and as such remains at the back of formal learning. Thus, they do not even know that the war began precisely from Serbia, and in general, I think that the sense of responsibility in this regard is expressed in very few young people. Srebrenica, Vukovar, although so close to Novi Sad or Belgrade, remain unknown to young people. On the other hand, the rehabilitation of the Chetniks and the focus on the heroism of Serbian soldiers in World War I contribute to the ethnicization of the memory of the joint partisan struggle during World War II. As far as I can understand, young people in Serbia identify with the greats of Serbian history in the fields of politics, science, literature. The narrative of the glorious ancestors who indebted us and whose endowment should be preserved prevails. Knowledge of the infamous and dishonorable moments of Serbian history is undesirable and therefore little present. Also, transgenerational compassion among young people in Serbia is much more pronounced when we talk about the NATO bombing of Serbia.

In Serbia, the issue of Kosovo, which prevails as an imaginary Serbian cradle that should be reclaimed, is very important. The slogan "No surrender", although promoted by the Serbian Progressive Party, was taken over by students and it is a flag that no one removes at the protests, which may lead to the conclusion that Kosovo is still a holy word that cannot be questioned.

I think that this state of affairs is not promising when we talk about peacebuilding given the culture of memory. Simply, young people in Serbia are not taught the truth and that leaves consequences. However, I believe that young people are much more open to other young people from the regions, precisely because they do not have the experience of war, and because they understand that political leaders manipulate collective sentiment."

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?

"This is a difficult question for me, because I think it would require research. Nevertheless, from personal experience, the common shaping of the understanding of the past occurs in the circle of the family, institutions or alternative forms of learning and encounters carried out by the civil society organization. In fact, I would say that only through the activities of civil society do transgenerational meetings and exchanges take place that aim precisely at mutual understanding of the past and transgenerational healing. I think that intergenerational meetings under the auspices of the state (lectures, commemorations, events) serve exclusively to build an identity that would be suitable for further manipulation and potential war. In Serbia, visits by war criminals to schools and their promotion are not uncommon.

When we put this in the context of the need to build a shared understanding of history regionally, we see how far we are actually from that goal."

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?

"I do not see any prospects for the imminent construction of transgenerational memory in the service of truth. It is simply not in the interest of political leaders, nor of those aspiring to power (the opposition), because ethno-nationalism is the political germ of party building in the former Yugoslavia and it has always remained one of the basic instruments of governance. Even if you have a party in Serbia whose members do not deny the genocide in Srebrenica, it will never be one of the things that is put in the foreground, precisely because of the calculation of electoral votes. At the same time, national textbooks for elementary school students are being introduced in Serbia as a contribution to the construction of national identity, and in the field of humanities subjects.

Preserving the memory of the truth about war events remains within the circle of independent and alternative initiatives (individuals and associations) in the fields of art, activism, education, and advocacy."

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?

"I believe that the current geopolitical situation, wars and the growth of authoritarianism on a global level do not contribute to preserving the memory of war events. If the international community was at least a guarantor of peace in the region in our country, it is certainly no longer so, because the promotion of militarization and the insistence on the necessity of war as a way of resolving conflicts are increasingly obvious. I believe that the already fragile trust in the international community has now completely disappeared. Unfortunately, the countries of the former Yugoslavia have not managed to agree on a common history on their own, which is why the narrative about history will remain very much subject to geopolitical movements in which we are the periphery, and the narrative that is useful for the needs of authoritarian rule will prevail. Ukraine and Gaza should be a warning to us that the future must be sought through dialogue and conflict resolution. In this regard, I believe that the time is coming when it will be necessary to increasingly defend the basic rights to a dignified life, and the transgenerational memory of the brutal violation of human rights during the 1990s is part of that."



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.