Irish artist filmed a movie about Srebrenica: I didn't know fear had a smell

Irish artist Anthony Haughey has made a film UNresolved (Neriješeno) which talks about the largest genocide in Europe after World War II, the one in Srebrenica, writes the BH news agency Patria.

This year, July 11th will mark the 20th anniversary of the suffering of more than 8,000 Bosniaks, old men, and young men who were killed in just a few days.

Haughey stayed in BiH from 1998 to 2002 when he was researching for his film. As this artist explained, the film's title is a play on words that points to the insufficient role of the UN in Srebrenica, even after the adoption of Resolution 819, which declared it a safe zone.

The film also features testimonies of witnesses and victims, and all locations are authentic. In one part of the film, the narrator, in not-so-good English, quotes a Dutch soldier who witnessed the massacre.

- You can't imagine what it was like. People are screaming, crying, they are sick, some are dying, and it wasn't easy that we couldn't do anything. You could smell the fear. Before that day, I didn't know that fear had a smell.

The Serbs took 500 men to one place where they killed them. They were forced to lie down, and the soldiers killed them one by one. The executions lasted for six hours.

As Haughey stated, the claims made under oath at the Hague Tribunal were clear evidence that the killings were systematic. The Serbs had to know where the mass graves were.

In the film, Haughey questions the role of the Dutch UN forces. The walls of the buildings they stayed in are full of pornographic and racist graffiti.

On the other hand, for the survivors in Srebrenica who live there today, it is unimaginable to see people in the town who killed Bosniaks.

- Srebrenica is the darkest, most terrible place I have ever seen when I first visited it in 1997-98. You could still smell the burning – says this artist.

When he returned in 2010, the picture was different. The town was largely rebuilt, with a new mosque and a Orthodox church.

- If you spend time there, you begin to realize that there are huge tensions in the town – between Bosniaks and Serbs. But life goes on somehow – says Haughey.

As this artist states, he came across a cornfield, and learned that 200 bodies were buried there.

- For Bosniaks, it is a big problem because they want to preserve the memory of what happened in this entire area. For them, it is sacred ground. While the Serbs just want to move on. It is a place where history is written in different ways. There are two, three versions, Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian – says this Irishman.