Paths of Memory: Srebrenica Genocide Exhibits at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC

Abstract

After the horrors of the Holocaust the world said “Never Again”. The promise that echoed for decades was broken during the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–1995) and its culmination on 11 July 1995 in Srebrenica, a UN designated safe area, when Serb forces led by General Ratko Mladić captured the town and killed over 8000 Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys. The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice ruled the massacre in Srebrenica as genocide. In 2005, an exhibit of Bosnian photographer Tarik Samarah's work about the Srebrenica genocide opened at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC (the Museum). A few years later the Srebrenica genocide was included in the special exhibition “From Memory to Action: Meeting the Challenge of Genocide”. This article examines the installation and importance of both of the Srebrenica genocide exhibits at the Museum. It shows that the inclusion of the Srebrenica genocide at the Museum bears witness to the importance of genocide prevention, education and memorialization. It highlights the purpose of the Museum and the decision to expand its educational program to include post-Holocaust genocide cases. The conclusion emphasizes that the presence of the Srebrenica genocide is directly contributing to the importance of “keeping the memory alive” with regard to the Holocaust and genocide studies in general.

Notes

1. Edward T. Linenthal, Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America's Holocaust Museum, New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1995, p. 2.

2. Ibid.

3. Elie Wiesel, “US Holocaust Memorial Museum Opening Remarks”. Accessed March 2, 2015. http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/wiesel.htm.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, “History of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum”. Accessed March 16, 2015. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005782.

7. Linenthal, Preserving Memory, 12.

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid., 35.

10. Ibid., 36.

11. In Linenthal's book, the primary focus was to describe how the set-up of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum accentuated the importance of connecting the sufferings to individual understanding of the Holocast.

12. Linenthal, Preserving Memory, 266.

13. Bridget Conley-Zilkic, Skype Interview with Elmina Kulašić, March 17, 2015.

14. Ibid.

15. Tarik Samarah, E-mail to Author, April 29, 2015.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Tarik Samarah, E-mail to Author, April 30, 2015.

19. Ibid.

20. Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. Accessed March 10, 2015. https://www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/pages/exhibitions/special-exhibitions/.

21. Ibid.

22. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Exhibit from Memory to Action: Meeting the Challenge of Genocide”. Accessed March 14, 2015. http://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/museum-exhibitions/from-memory-to-action-meeting-the-challenge-of-genocide/.

23. Ibid.

24. Ibid.

25. Bridget Conley-Zilkic, Skype Interview with Elmina Kulašić.

26. Ibid.

27. Hasan Nuhanović, Interview with Elmina Kulašić, Parliament BiH, March 30, 2015.

28. Ibid.

29. The exhibit featured testimonies from activists, rescuers and others.

30. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Exhibit from Memory to Action”.

31. Ibid.

32. Ibid.

33. Alice Greenwald, “Opening Remarks of “Abandoned at Srebrenica: Ten Years Later”, Exhibit”. Accessed March 20, 2015. http://www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/speakers-and-events/all-speakers-and-events/abandoned-at-srebrenica-ten-years-later.

34. Ibid.

35. Ibid.

36. Bridget Conley-Zilkic, Skype Interview with Elmina Kulašić.

37. Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Interview with Elmina Kulašić, Hotel Europa, April 8, 2015.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid., 24.

40. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum. “About the Museum Section”. Accessed April 5, 2015. http://www.ushmm.org/information/about-the-museum.

41. Hasan Nuhanović, Interview with Elmina Kulašić.

42. Ibid.