Vandals damage Srebrenica memorial station on Graz bridge!

Vandals damage Srebrenica memorial station on Graz bridge!

On Friday, July 1, 2025, a temporary monument on the Graz main bridge was damaged on the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. The initiative ge_LEMENT had built this monument to the more than 8,000 victims of the terrible genocide in Bosnia commemorate.

At the Archduke Johann Bridge, eleven white flowers were placed as a symbol of commemoration. Unfortunately, the largest of these flowers was removed, which was condemned by the initiative. She sees this incident as an attack on the processing, peace work and the protection of human rights. "We are calling for a complete clarification of this vandalenact," said a spokesman for the initiative.

an expression of the protest

On Monday evening, eleven people gathered on the bridge to protest with their presence. This was a symbolic sign - 11 stands for July 11th, the international day of commemoration at the Srebrenica massacre. In this context, the initiative ge_ thinking to "Graz peace march" next Thursday at 6 p.m. a.

historical context for the massacre

The Srebrenica massacre is considered the greatest crime against humanity in Europe since the end of World War II. On July 11, 1995, Bosnian-Serbian units took the city of Srebrenica under the command of Ratko Mladić. Over 7,000 Muslim Bosnians, mostly men and boys, lost their lives in the following days. This happened during a time when Jugoslavia's decay initiated a bitter civil war phase. Tensions between the ethnic groups led to the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 1990s.

srebrenica was declared a UN security zone, but around 350 UN soldiers were unable to protect the civilians. Up to 42,000 people, including 36,000 refugees, were in the city at that time when the atrocities began. Women and children were separated from men who were then murdered in masses. The International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia was founded to punish these crimes. To date, 161 people have been charged.

In recent years, there was an increased discussion about the classacre classification as a genocide. The situation is complicated by political tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where, among other things, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and the political leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, are repeatedly in the spotlight. On July 11, 2024, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the UN for the first internation of genocide and have set up an international day of commemoration for this day.

The commemorative celebrations that are also celebrated in Srebrenica are reminiscent of the terrible events and preserve the memory of the victims. Despite decades of refurbishment, the massacre remains a controversial topic, and the search for the truth is far from over for many. Historian Belma Zulic reports constant searches according to the remains of the murdered.