I Bear Witness

On the occasion of April 22, the Day of Remembrance of Serb Genocide Victims in the Independent State of Croatia, the Republic of Srpska Center for Research of War, War Crimes, and Searching for Missing Persons is launching activities directly concerning anyone with an ancestor, family member or compatriot that was killed in the genocide. We ask that you take a look at the contents of the fact sheet and posters (in Serbian or English) attached here, and that you support these activities as much as possible.

The blue ribbon symbolically represents a testimony that roughly two million Serbs were disenfranchised and facing prospects of being exterminated in the Independent State of Croatia. At the same time, our remembrance of those events shows that we have survived and thrived!

We would like to launch an activity and invite everyone who is interested to go to your social media accounts on April 22 and share a photo of yourself wearing a blue ribbon around your wrist and holding up a sign (in Serbian or English) saying “I Bear Witness!”. Additionally, you may also wish to share the fact sheet attached here, in order to help people understand what it is that we bear witness to, and why.

Of course, if in addition to this you also feel compelled to share a personal story on this topic, it would be extremely meaningful for the authenticity of the project as a whole. We ask that you share a link to help spread the word about this activity to anyone who may be interested, and encourage everybody to do their part in building our culture of remembrance together.

In this way, we will be able to fulfill our vow and civil duty, as well as send the message that each generation is granted a fresh opportunity and responsibility to make the world we live in a better place, among other things, by bearing witness to the horrors we have survived.