Recognition of the Roma Genocide

 Recognition, official texts

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Holocaust is defined as the destruction of Jews during World War II. The Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Srpska referred to the Holocaust as the worst form of crime and genocide against a nation, and it also mentioned other victims of National Socialist ideology, such as Serbs, Roma, political prisoners, and homosexuals. (see OSCE report Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism: An Overview and Analysis of Educational Approaches, page 73). There is no information on whether the Roma are recognised as victims of the Genocide.

 Data (camps locations, Remembrance places, measures etc.)

Bosnia and Herzegovina has not established an official Holocaust Memorial Day due to the absence of state-level legislation on official holidays. However, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina does mark 27th January as the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. (see OSCE report “Holocaust Memorial Days: An overview of remembrance and education in the OSCE region”, page 24)

The most important memorials of the victims of the World War II are the "Donja Gradina memorial site" in the Republic of Srpska - a former satellite camp of the largest Croatian concentration camp in Jasenovac, the "Vraca memorial park" - inaugurated in 1981 as the central memorial site in Sarajevo for the "Victims of the Second World War and the Partisan War-Dead" and the Jewish Museum Bosnia-Herzegovina and Jewish Cemetery in Sarajevo.

"Donja Gradina memorial site"

The village of Donja Gradina is located on the right bank of the river Sava, on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the village of Jasenovac lies on the left bank. In the spring of 1941, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia and the Independent State of Croatia was proclaimed (USK, Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska) by the fascist Ustaša movement.  The regime's largest concentration and extermination camp was established in Jasenovac. From the end of July 1941 on, the Ustaša mainly deported Serbs, Jews and Roma to the camp. At the beginning of 1942, the Ustaša brought the prisoners across the river to Donja Gradina with a ferry to be killed here, the guards stabbed and beat their victims to death. The bodies were subsequently buried in large mass graves or burned. Memorial and information plaque on the site of killings commemorating victims is placed in Donja Gradina in Republic of Srpska. On  9th July 9 1996, the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska passed a law regulating the status of the Donja Gradina Memorial Site in the Republic of Srpska.

"Vraca memorial park"

During World War II, the Vraca fortress in Sarajevo was used as a prison and execution site: Ustaša henchmen murdered thousands of people here, primarily Serbs, Muslims, Jews, communists and partisans. Many of the victims were buried close to the fortress. The "Vraca Memorial Park" has commemorated the victims of World War II in Sarajevo since the 1980s. It was destroyed the Bosnian War (1992-1995) and the city of Sarajevo began restoring the Vraca fortress and memorial park in 2001, yet due to a lack of funds the restoration has not yet been completed. More than 11,000 victims' names are listed on a memorial plaque in the Vraca Memorial Park. The memorial park was declared a national monument in 2005.

Jewish Museum Bosnia-Herzegovina and Jewish Cemetery

Since 1966, the World War II victims from the city’s Jewish community, whose establishment dates back to the 16th century, are commemorated in a Jewish museum, located in the Old Synagogue »Il Kal Grandi« of Sarajevo.  The exhibit shows the richness of pre-Holocaust Jewish life as well as the history of the Holocaust in Bosnia. Beginning 1941, almost all of the Jewish residents of Sarajevo were deported to camps by the Ustaša; most of the deportees perished. The old Sephardic cemetery of Sarajevo was established in the 17th century on the Trebević mountain. Located on the cemetery, up the hill, is a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Bosnia-Herzegovina. One monument commemorates a group of Jews and Serbs who were brought to the cemetery and killed together by Nazis in 1941. The cemetery has been devastated several times; most recently during the Bosnian War in the 1990s. The cemetery was cleared of mines in 1998 and later restored as far as possible.

 Specialised institution, commission, research centre etc., dealing with this issue

According to the available information, there is no specialised institution, commission or research centre specifically dealing with the issue of the Roma Genocide.

In October 2006, the Goethe Institute and the Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina organised an international conference entitled “The State of Holocaust Studies in South Eastern Europe: Problems, Obstacles and Perspectives”.Although Roma were not featured in the seminar, several of the papers were about the former Yugoslavia and some included Bosnia.

 Official initiatives (campaigns, actions, projects, commemoration days, museums)

According to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) (Holocaust Memorial Days in the OSCE Region, page 9), “Bosnia and Herzegovina does not officially mark 27th January as Holocaust Memorial Day, due to the absence of state-level legislation on official holidays. On 27th January 2007, the International Holocaust Memorial Day was, however, marked. Under the patronage of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, events took place on the premises of the Jewish community. They were organised in co-operation with the Institute for Research of Crimes of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the International Law University in Sarajevo and the Jewish community of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

There is a permanent exhibition on the Holocaust in the Jewish Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.