Derry students mark Holocaust Day with Srebenica Mother Telling daunting story of losing her family
Oakgrove Integrated College paused lessons on Friday last as they were joined by fellow students from Thornhill and Foyle College to mark Holocaust Memorial Week and hear the daunting story of genocide survivor and keynote speaker Munira Subasic tell of losing her husband, 17 years old son and 20 members of her family in the Srebrenica genocide of July, 1995.
The Holocaust Week event is held annually at the college to remember the victims of that and other genocide since then. On 27th January each year, the UN urges all member states to honour the millions of victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of war throughout the world and to develop educational programmes to help prevent future genocides.
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebenica during the Bosnia War. It was mainly perpetrated by units of the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska under Ratko Mladic though the Serb paramilitary unit Scorpions also participated. The massacre was the first legally recognised genocide in Europe since the end of World War II.
What happened in the former Yugoslavia served as a start reminder of the devastating consequences of ethnic and religious hatred. In Oakgrove Integrated College there continues to be a strong commitment to embracing diversity, celebrating differences and fostering equality. However, there is also recognition that achieving true racial equality and respect remains an ongoing journey for us all.
At the Special Assembly, Mrs. Munira Subašić, president of the Mothers’ of Srebrenica and Zepa Enclaves, one of the main organisations representing victims of the Srebrenica genocide, spoke to a packed hall and you could have ‘heard a pin drop’ as she conveyed her daunting story through an interpreter.
Taking her position at the school’s podium, Mrs. Munira Subašić said: ‘I am very humbled to be invited and to speak to so many young people about what happened at Srebrenica but also to be an advocate for reconciliation. We know in Bosnia about political and ethnic divisions and that further prejudice, hatred and separation are not answers. They just lead to more misery. We don’t want to visit the problems of the past on our next generations and neither should Northern Ireland.’
Peter Osborne, chair of the Northern Ireland Board of charity Remembering Srebrenica, who accompanied Mrs. Subašić to Oakgrove, said: ‘The event at the College was outstanding and we want to thank all the pupils and schools that participated, and the teachers for their support and commitment. Young people are our future, and if these students are anything to go by, we should be very optimistic about that future, together.’
Speaking after Tuesday’s event, Oakgrove Principal, Mr. John Harkin said he was proud to hose Munira and hoped that those in attendance learned something from her telling her story.
Oakgrove has marked Holocaust Memorial every day since its inception.
Mr. Harkin further commented: ‘We mark this day because we should honour those lives destroyed, recommit to holding the world to its promise ‘Never Again’ and make sure that in our life choices we humanise, not categorise those around us.’
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