Massacre victims buried in Bosnia

(Vatican Radio) More widows and others have finally a place to grieve their loved ones. Remains of victims of Europe’s worst single atrocity since World War II have been laid to rest in Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

Friday’s ceremony came on the 19th anniversary of the massacre in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, in which thousands of Muslim men and boys were killed. 

The remains of 175 men and boys discovered in mass graves were buried in Srebrenica, next to 6,066 previously found victims. 

Some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were rounded up and killed by Bosnian Serb forces, who overran the town during the Bosnian War on July 11, 1995. 

SEARCH CONTINUES

At the International Centre on Missing Persons, the search continues for victims, explains its Director-General Kathryne Bomberger.  

“We calculate that there are still about a thousand persons missing,” she said. “In addition to these thousand persons, there will be thousands of additional pieces of bodies, of skeletal remains that will also be uncovered that could be re-associated to the ones in the mortuary. So, this is an extremely complex process.”

And the wounds of those who survived Europe’s worst massacre since World War II, have not yet healed. Yet, Fatima Efendic said she was “happy” that she could finally bury her son Amir, who was among those killed. 

“I dreamt of him last night,” she said. “I found him on top of a house, I held him in my lap. My wish and dream finally came true. I just took him into my lap.”

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: