Third book 'Genocidal Intent Bratunac 1992.' promoted in Voljavica

(Patria) - Today in the settlement of Voljavica, Bratunac municipality, the first promotion of the third book in the series "Genocidal Intent Bratunac 1992." by author Ramiz Salkić, which presents research on crimes against Bosniaks in the settlements of Voljavica, Zalužje, Biljača, Bjelovac, Sikirić, Pirići, Zapolje, Tegare, Joševa, Jagodnja and Žanjevo/Abdulići during the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, was held.

The organizers of today's promotion were the Majlis of the Islamic Community Bratunac and the Bosniak Cultural Community “Preporod” Bratunac, while Mehmed Pargan and Nijaz Mašić spoke as promoters, and Elvir-ef. Hodžić was the moderator.

Through the testimonies of surviving victims, the book provides an authentic account of the persecution of Bosniaks from the mentioned settlements, as well as an account of the heroic resistance of the Bosniaks from these settlements against the superior aggressor. The book contains statements from more than thirty interviewees, a list of discovered mass graves in these settlements, a list of 1,282 killed residents of these settlements, as well as events during the return process to these settlements after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

According to the 1991 census, 5,271 Bosniaks lived in these settlements; 1,282 (24.32%) were killed during the aggression; 1,331 (25.25%) returned to their homes according to the 2013 census conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 2,658 (50.42%) did not decide to return to their homes after being expelled.

During the aggression against these settlements, 95 children were killed, accounting for 7.41% of the total number of killed residents; 102 women (7.95%) were killed. The oldest person killed was Suljagić Zahida, who was 110 years old at the time of her murder.

The largest number of killed residents from these settlements, 927 or 72.30%, were killed in the genocide against Bosniaks, residents of the UN safe zone of Srebrenica, committed by the army and parts of the police of Bosnian Serbs.

“It is our obligation to leave records for future generations about what happened to Bosniaks in eastern Bosnia during the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosniaks were numerous residents of Užice, Valjevo, Šabac, Belgrade, and many other cities in Serbia from where they were expelled, and there are not many written traces of this today, which is exploited by historical revisionists.

The work on these books is exhaustive, emotional, difficult, takes a lot of time, and also emotionally drains a person along with the interviewees, to whom I am immensely grateful for their willingness to be part of this project. The first promotion of this publication is logically held today here in the place where the crimes were committed, where the Bosniaks who were expelled during the aggression have returned to testify about our lives, our struggle, and our persistence not to allow evil to defeat good,” said the author of the book.

The book promotion was enriched by the performance of the group Rejjan, which, through its choice of songs, further helped the promotion attendees in raising awareness about the need to preserve the memory of all those who were killed or died during the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.