March 30, 2009 issue
Bosnians face war memories
By Gladys Terichow Mennonite Central CommitteePage:
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HRUSTOVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The birth dates on the cemetery’s wooden grave markers and stone monuments vary, but the year of death is the same — 1992.
Vahidin Omanovic started the Center for Peacebuilding in Bosnia-Herzegovina to help people confront the painful events of the 1992-95 war and rebuild relationships severed by war. — Photo by Melissa Engle/MCC
The youngest victim of the massacres that took place here was 2 weeks old. The eldest was 90.
“These are my neighbors, my relatives, my cousins, my best friends. I know them all,” said Vahidin Omanovic, a leader and organizer of peacebuilding activities supported by Mennonite Central Committee.
More than 200 villagers are buried in this graveyard. Wooden markers identify the recent burials of bodies that have been found in mass graves. The fate of more than 100 villagers is unknown.
About 750 families lived in Hrustovo before the war. Only 300 families have returned to the village.
The most tragic aspect of the three-year conflict that divided the country along ethnic and religious lines is that it happened among neighbors and friends, Omanovic said.
When the war ended in 1995, about 110,000 people had been killed, and nearly 2 million people were driven from their homes. Many people have not returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Those who have are forced to confront painful events and rebuild relationships severed by war.
“We can’t forget the war. We have to learn how to live with it,” Omanovic said. “If we don’t talk about our experiences, reconciliation can’t happen.”
In 2004, Omanovic founded the Center for Peacebuilding, an organization supported by MCC that provides activities to bring about emotional healing, understanding and reconciliation.
One of the activities is week-long summer peace camps that enable people of various religions and ethnicities to speak with each other about the pain of their past and their hopes for the future.
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