Voices from the Drina is a genocide education project founded by Bosnian Genocide researcher, Georgio Konstandi, and co-produced and funded by Beyond Srebrenica.
Over a period of months working at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, Georgio collated testimonies from survivors of the Bosnian Genocide, which was committed by Serb forces with particular intensity in eastern Bosnia’s Drina valley. From that work, Voices from the Drina emerged, imagining what social media would have looked like as the events of the genocide unfolded. The project simulates a social media newsfeed, in which the words of Bosnian genocide survivors themselves come to life so that the events of 1992-1995 are captured as if in real time.
The Drina valley was an area of Bosnia which was particularly targeted by Serb forces for genocidal atrocities. Between 1992 and 1995, tens of thousands of predominantly Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) civilians were massacred, forced out of their homes, and sent to the first concentration camps on European soil since the Holocaust. Bosniak women who were captured by Serb forces were sent to “rape camps” in places such as the infamous Vilina Vlas spa in Višegrad. The few Serb civilians who refused to support the new “Serb Republic” were also persecuted.
In addition to testimonies from survivors, the simulated newsfeed also features statements made by members of the ethnonationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and their allies during the war, as well statements made by international diplomats and politicians. Statements featured on the simulated newsfeed are already in the public domain. Many of the testimonies that appear on the newsfeed have been sourced from Hasan Hasanović’s oral history exhibitions at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre and our sincere thanks go to the Centre for their permission to access these resources.
Please note that whilst all original content and testimonies, some of the material in Voices from the Drina deals with themes of genocide and sexual violence. Do consider carefully how this application might be used in an education context.
About the producers
Georgio Konstandi is a Bosnian Genocide researcher and activist. In addition to creating Voices from the Drina, Georgio’s research focuses on the historicisation of emotions in the Bosniak community since the genocide in 1992-1995.
Georgio’s work can be followed on X (formerly Twitter), here.
For enquiries regarding collaboration, please contact Georgio by email.
Julie Adair is Vice Chair of Beyond Srebrenica, a charity dedicated to sharing the lessons of the Bosnian genocide. She has a background in digital media at the BBC, Walt Disney Company and in Higher Education.
Acknowledgements
The project’s producers would like to thank:
Hasan Hasanović
Hasan Nuhanović
Emir Suljagić
Azir Osmanović
Zenaida Hodžić
Almasa Salihović
Amra Begić
And the web design team at AdHive.