Memorial Center Welcomes Steinmeier's Intention to Review Decision on Awarding Greif

(Patria) - The Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center and Cemetery for the victims of the 1995 genocide welcomed the intention of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier to review the decision to award the president of the so-called "Independent International Commission for the Investigation of the Suffering of All Peoples in the Srebrenica Region from 1992 to 1995", Gideon Greif, with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

"President Steinmeier was one of the participants in the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the genocide of Bosniaks in the UN safe zone 'Srebrenica'. His message of support for the victims of the genocide and the work of the Srebrenica Memorial Center at that time was unequivocal. Without entering into the content or disputing other deeds and work of Gideon Greif regarding the crime of the Holocaust, we believe it is unacceptable that, in the decision to award one of Germany's highest honors, Greif's contribution to historical revisionism and the politicization of the issue of the genocide in Srebrenica was not taken into account. We hope that the facts regarding his work in the so-called 'Independent International Commission for the Investigation of the Suffering of All Peoples in the Srebrenica Region from 1992 to 1995' will contribute to a change in President Steinmeier's decision. Until then and thereafter, we will stand upright, and we call on President Steinmeier to visit the cemetery of the genocide victims, listen to the stories of witnesses and families of the genocide victims. Our doors remain open for learning and understanding, in the hope that we will all realize that we must not allow ourselves to respect any attempt at historical revisionism and trampling on the dignity of victims, whether they are victims of the Holocaust or victims of the genocide in Srebrenica", conclude from the Memorial Center.

In his message for the 25th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, in 2020, President Steinmeier said: "Even now, what happened in and around Srebrenica 25 years ago still leaves us speechless and horrified. The name of this Bosnian town is etched into our collective memory as the darkest chapter of the wars on the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the nineties. The brutality and scale of the killing of thousands of Muslim boys and men here are unprecedented in Europe since the Second World War. It was genocide – that was the unequivocal decision of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia."