Bosnian War

In the spring of 2005 I spent 10 days driving through Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia, ten years after the Bosnian-Serb war had ended. The landscape was some of the most beautiful in the world with huge mountains and flowing rivers, but tucked into the wooded mountainsides were reminders of what had been the bloodiest war since World War II.

Mass graves with white crosses adorned the place for the unidentified dead. There was a joke I heard while I was in Bosnia, "Bosnian vegetables are the largest, freshest and juiciest in the whole world because of the fertilizer." When I heard this I was disgusted because I knew it was referencing the thousands of mass graves that had yet to be discovered in the country.

But this joke is a fact of life for those who still live in Bosnia, graves and land-mines are still being discovered. The borders of Bosnia also remain locked, meaning residents of the country cannot leave.

During the war over 2 million civilians were displaced from their homes and a large majority of those killed were also civillians. During the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia over 8,000 men and boys were killed during July of 1995.

Zaim Pasic's account of how he fled Bosnia during the war.

If you have the time watch the BBC documentary, A Cry From the Grave. In total it is 90 minutes long but definately worth it. I have added it to my videos section.

There is also currently an initiative trying to bring Bosnian refugees back to the country.