German extremists mock Srebrenica victims

On the 30th anniversary of the genocide of the Bosnian population in Srebrenica by Serbian forces, the German Parliament held a debate in honor of the victims. But what happened during this debate as a result of cynical statements by MPs from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) shows that hatred can triumph again and everywhere if the far right takes power.

1.

In July 1995, the world fell silent. People were spending their holidays at the seaside and sometimes, on the radio or television, they might have heard the name Srebrenica, without paying attention to what was happening in that town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The great Polish poet Adam Zagajewski (June 21, 1945 – March 21, 2021) captures this situation with powerful words. Below is his poem, which bears the title “Summer 1995”:

IIt was a summer in the Mediterranean, you remember,

near Toulon, dry wine, inspired by itself,

speaking in a dialect that is difficult to understand,

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so we only understood fragments of slurred words,

It was a summer in the slanting evening light, at night in pale patches of stars, when the noise

of insignificant voices ceased and only

The silence waited for a sleepy bird to call,

a summer with a daily blast of the south, when even

the gynkallas were singing, one summer,

when the blue water opened up as a welcome, so welcoming,

so much so that we forgot all about the amphorae, which were thousands

years they stood at the bottom of the sea, in the darkness,

lonely; it was that summer, do you remember,

when the eternally green leaves of the willow tree laughed,

It was July when we became friends.

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with that black kitten,

which seemed so wise to us,

It was that same summer, when in Srebrenica

Men and boys were killed;

there – countless dry shots

and of course also heat and dust

and the gynkalla, terrified to death.

2.

30 years later, the facts are undeniable. In Srebrenica, Serbian forces, commanded by General Ratko Mladić and supported by Belgrade, killed about 8.000 Bosnian men and boys. The International Court of Justice has described this mass crime as genocide. In several judgments, the Hague Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has found that genocide was committed in Srebrenica. Ratko Mladić has been sentenced to life imprisonment for this crime. So has Radovan Karadžić. And several of their associates to long-term imprisonment. In total, this team for murders, massacres and other atrocities has received over 700 years in prison from the Hague Tribunal. However, and despite these facts, the denial of the genocide in Srebrenica continues to be a daily competition of nationalists. In Serbia. In the Serbian entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In ultranationalist and pro-Serb circles in Montenegro. Even in Skopje: a deputy prime minister from the Serbian minority mocks the victims. This denial, as disgusting as it is, is also expected.

3.

But the genocide in Srebrenica is also denied in Germany, more precisely in the German Parliament. On the 30th anniversary of the genocide by Serbian forces against the Bosnian population in Srebrenica, the German Parliament held a debate last week in honor of the victims. What the deputies of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party said during the debate was in full accordance with the Serbian propaganda from Belgrade and Banja Luka. 

At the opening of the meeting, the President of the Bundestag, Julia Klöckner, from the conservative CDU party, said: “Srebrenica was the worst war crime on European soil since the Second World War.” State Minister in the Foreign Ministry, Gunther Krichbaum, compared the madness of nationalism to a greenhouse and added: “Therefore, Srebrenica is a call to all of us, a call: Don’t look the other way, but look straight ahead! - When people in Europe or elsewhere are threatened because of their origin, their religion or their identity, we dare not remain silent. It is our responsibility to stand up against the minimization, relativization and revival of nationalism and racism.”

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This is exactly what AfD MP Alexander Wolf did. He criticized the classification of the war crime as genocide and indirectly expressed gratitude to the Serbs who only killed the men in Srebrenica, “but essentially spared the women and children.” Wolf accused Germany of supporting the UN General Assembly Resolution, which classifies the Srebrenica massacre as genocide. Another AfD MP, Martin Sichert, used the debate to launch a frontal attack on Muslims in general and to criticize German domestic politics. He said that “Srebrenica warns us to end multiculturalism before it is too late.” He accused Muslims of trying to become a majority through a “birth jihad.” According to this racist theory, Muslims deliberately give birth to more children in order to become a majority in Western societies.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul tried to put an end to this disgusting debate. He said: “I regret that we are imposing such debates on the victims, their relatives – especially those present here and the ambassador.” In the Bundestag’s guest gallery was the ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Damir Arnaut, and two survivors of the Srebrenica massacre. What happened during this debate as a result of the cynical statements of the Alternative for Germany MPs shows that hatred can triumph again and everywhere if the extreme right takes power.