31st Anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide

Thirty-one years ago, on July 6, 1995, the Bosnian Serb Army (Vojska Republike Srpske, or VRS), under the command of General Ratko Mladić and the political leadership of Radovan Karadžić, launched its assault on the United Nations–designated "safe area" of Srebrenica. The attack culminated on July 11, when VRS forces overran the town. In the days that followed, more than 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys were murdered by VRS forces and associated units. At the same time, more than 20,000 women, children, and elderly civilians were forcibly expelled from the enclave as part of a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing. Recognized by international courts as genocide, these crimes remain the deadliest mass atrocity in Europe since the Holocaust.

In a systematic effort to conceal the scale of the atrocity, the VRS buried the victims in primary mass graves, later using heavy machinery to exhume and rebury them in secondary and tertiary graves. These repeated burials and exhumations were carried out specifically to destroy evidence of their crimes and obstruct international justice.

To this day, approximately 1,000 victims of the genocide remain missing. Through decades of forensic work, the International Commission on Missing Persons has helped identify and return the remains of more than 7,000 victims to their families. Each identification restores a person's name and dignity, affirms the truth of what happened, and stands as a powerful victory over attempts to erase the victims and deny the crimes committed.

Nevertheless, attempts to erase the truth persist through genocide denial and the continued lack of widespread education about these crimes. In 2024, the United Nations General Assembly took a landmark step by designating July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. The resolution underscored the international responsibility to preserve the truth, honor the memory of the victims, reject genocide denial, and help prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

On the 31st anniversary of the genocide, remembering the victims of Srebrenica and learning from the failures that enabled these crimes remain essential to preventing such atrocities from ever happening again. The Auschwitz Institute honors the victims of Srebrenica by working to strengthen the prevention of genocide and other identity-based atrocities. This includes supporting early warning systems, training policymakers to recognize the risk factors that can lead to identity-based violence, and standing alongside survivors, families of the victims, educators, and forensic experts in their pursuit of truth, justice, and remembrance.