A Survivor of the War in Bosnia Recounts His Experience | FRONTLINE 

when he said please find my dad...my heart broke into pieces. I hope this man finds his father...dead or alive, to bring him peace.

I still remember my mom’s scream just before her death. How she dropped when she was shot and how my sister and I hid under the bed with her on the floor next to us. I remember seeing her hair, blood and brain matter scattered on the wall where she stood. I was 6 years old and my sister was 10.

We'll never forget. We'll never forgive. It was not a war, it was LITERALLY a genocide.

The saddest part of all of this is the facial expressions of this war criminal he has zero remorse for all the human lives he has taken not even the children that have been killed can make this man regret his actions

Croatian Croat, the trauma from this war has never left my family, I was born at the end so I did not have to live through it. What I had to live through was watching the trauma play out through my family and not knowing or fully understanding why or what. I to this day cannot and know I never will. Anyone who advocates for a war has never been near one. My all the souls lost find peace, and may god forgive us 😢

I served in Tuzla, Bosnia from December, 1995 to June, 1996. I arrived there shortly after the war. It took some time for me to get used to seeing the total destruction of homes, buildings, neighborhoods, entire communities. I love the Bosnian people! I always will. War is not the answer. Peace IS!!!

My stepdad is from this village I think they are even family related because they have same last name. My stepdad lost his 2 brothers. One was never found and the other one was found in the field. Bones all over the place. He regret till this day not stopping his little brother from going with the group of people through the forest. Those people were never found. Not the single bone. There is no single family that didn't lost someone.

What a waste of life this war was. I’m a Serb refugee from Bosnia and, although my family suffered at the hands of Croatians and Bosnians in 1992, I can easily relate to the pain and suffering endured by them at the hands of my fellow Serbs. Any Serb, Bosnian, or Croatian that denies and/or justifies the killing, torture, rape of civilians and POWs by their respective ethnic group is no better than the fanatics and criminals that caused this conflict to escalate.

My dad was a Muslim taken to a concentration camp and I've seen and heard a lot during this war and most of it is true but there were many moments I remember of which some show a different side to all of this and I'm sure this has happened to many more people but it doesn't get shared because it's not as relevant or because of the stance that people hold due to what they experienced but I want to share some of the things that happened without any bias. One particular day I remember looking out of my window in the early hours of the morning and seeing one guy driving a van who broke the curfew to deliver bread to the shops so that people had something to eat in a Serb occupied city and I remember thinking this guy could get killed, he was the only person out at that time, later on the radio on that same day they announced that he was shot and killed by a sniper. Not that it matters but I think he was a Serb killed by a Serb sniper and I don't like to judge because maybe this guy who killed him was fulfilling his orders or maybe he was an evil individual but that is in Gods hands but in my mind this delivery guy was a hero may God grant him eternal paradise and maybe this is a perfect example of how paranoia and fear has forced us into these situations. I also know of a few Serbs who committed suicide before they were forced to commit some of these atrocities. My dad had Serb friends and while he was taken away they risked to come to our house to give us money to survive, my mother was scared to open the door and this guy slid a bundle of cash from under the door and said "give this to your mother". Also prior to my dad being taken to a concentration camp as this a was a Serb occupied city when there was news that Muslims fighters from the surrounding villages were planning to attack the city I remember we all went together (Muslims, Croats and Serbs) down into the building basement and one guy who was a Serb had an AK47 and he was first at the door of the basement ready to protect us all didn't matter what religion you were because we were neighbours. It was a big mess, the war was a result of politics, manipulation, paranoia and fear mixed with some nationalism and what else can you expect. Tito knew this was likely to happen but there was no system in place to prevent it from happening and the missed opportunity to do absolutely everything in your power to prevent this from happening is maybe the biggest tragedy.

Man this is heart breaking, I strted crying when he said that he was dreaming of his dad, I know how it feel because I havent seen my mum in years

This made me cry man😞 being the 1st generation of immigrants this breaks rn heart knowing what my people went through

In my neighborhood in winchester,CA I've met Bosnian people and was neighbors with some. Amazing folks

Bosnia 🇧🇦 and Bosnian people just want to be left alone from Serbs and Croats and who ever we want to live in peace and respect others just leave us alone.

Poor man. I hope justice is service to those war criminals

My heart bleeds for the bosnia 🇧🇦 people 💔 😔 🥺🇸🇦

I have 2 relatives who were brothers tooken as hostages by their serb neighbour in the first days of the war. They were sitting in a coffe bar in the city when the serb neighbour came armed with a gun and took them at gunpoint to the Police station. The Police station was full of Serbian paramilitary memebers who were beating some Bosnian and Croatian civilians who were taken as hostages on that day in the city. These 2 relatives of me were tortured aswell, and a serbian paramilitary officer killed one in front of his brother. He survived after that months of concentration camps torture and was released later.. He is a an acloholic and literally brain damaged after he got released in 1992. I cant imagine what torture he has to go trough, but the worst of all it was an neighbour who you grew up with, whose father grew up together with your father up to do something like this.. That one hurts the most..

NEVER FORGET SREBRENICA!!!

I believe that Frontline is the most important program on television, and that PBS is the most important and valuable network. That's why it pains me every time I hear that the government wants to cut funding for Public Broadcasting. This story is an example of how we will forget if we stop talking about the tragedies occurring around the world, and how the tyrants will get away with their activities if we allow that to happen.

I would like to un-read this comment section.

Poor man has to relive once just by entering room, then again once he hears he has two security guys, again in court, only for that guy to get off easy smh god bless this man

Watch,there is no emotions in that demon

This is heart breaking

My mom she escaped to Norway when there was war and my grandpa survived in bosnia

I was in there too, and also my mother was dying there and I don’t know who is my father, I hope he is alive.

Live and let live. So much pain and suffering because people just cannot leave other people alone, that may be different in any number of trivial ways.

I remember watching this war on television like it was yesterday. It truly was God awful. Coming from a Jewish background I immediately can sympathize with the good people of Bosnia and what they went through. The only way for this beautiful land to heal, is for everyone who resides there, to see themselves all as one people. Not as Serbs, not as Croats, but simply just people who live in Bosnia. Hatred runs in all directions. After all, we all worship the same God. We just refer to him as different names. Every faith, be it Christian, Jewish, or Islam is beautiful. Everyone should embrace one another. Learning about another culture is what makes this world unique and beautiful. It's time to move on, in the best way we can. It may take time, but we must learn to love our neighbors.

Sad state of affairs 😔

And despite this and much more Mladic was found innocent on the first count of genocide outside Srebrenica. Nice job guys.

Politicians and leaders should fight each other.....let the civilians live.

Regarding the war, it is important that we do not decontextualize crimes and events. There is no equivalency between individual instances of war crimes and systematic crimes against humanity. The "all sides did it" discourse is revisionism. There's a huge difference between crimes committed by individuals and crimes that are systemically planned. Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat separatist forces committed systemically planned war crimes. The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not commit any systemically planned crimes. For decades now, there has been a trend and tendancy to lump everything together, which is exactly what war criminals and their supporters have been doing for years, even decades, trying to relativize everything until it loses its true context and hence meaning.

I must say that of the most senseless wars, this one has always seemed to make the least sense. At least from the outside looking in, we see the people's of the area as brothers and sisters - much more than cousins - who speak very similar languages, who have lived with each other for hundreds and hundreds of years, who were once victimized by the same regional powers, etc. We've got a pretty sizeable Bosnian population where I live in the U.S. Despite being nearly 3 decades ago, the trauma always still seems very fresh.

NEVER EVER FORGET BROTHER.......they are still your neighbors...be alert ...be vigilant...be prepared

he speaks very good english

TEARS WENT DOWN , SO SAD WHY DO WE NEED SHIT LIKE THIS, WTF

Don't tell me it's "emotional" because that sort of priming has no business in real journalism. The emotion will speak to us all in its own power.

They didn’t stop us. Still going strong 🇧🇦🇧🇦🇧🇦

I would recommend if you want to know more of the Bosnia war to ready "Love Thy Neighbor" by Peter Maas and "The Bosnia List" by Kenan really good reads

My dad durvived the war im not joking he was in velika kladuša

Well, for the majority in Serb dominated entity in Bosnia (called Republic of Srpska) and for many in Serbia this monster is a hero. Official media there in all these years makes an effort to rehabilitate him. Also all other war criminals (e.g. B. Plavsic, M. Krajisnik) after serving their sentences are warmly and widely welcomed from media and politicians in the Serb entity. So, that fasistic politics is still the same there like during the war, but just without shooting.

An unclean killer, a monstrous killer of innocents 👎👎👎😡، A pig is a criminal

This tears me apart

RIP martyrs, amen🤲🤲🤲😢😢😢

It is embarrassing to share the same nationality as that thing, that demon..

The serbs in this comment section make me feel disturbed. I hope every serb is not like that

My dad was on bomb duty that whole war, the Serbs are VERY creative in their bomb placement

Does anybody know if he found his dad?

I do not agree with any evil,unfair people,bullies,gangs,cops,in fact,i ask and beg God to show zero mercy for these as they know what they do to ruin life’s. I should know as i am bullied. These are disgusting rats. Im sorry ,but,when a group of people outnumber one victim who can’t fight back ,is not heroic at all,and it is even terrorism. Don’t do to others,what you don’t want done to you.Karma go ahead and do your work.✌️Government war crime called organized gang stalking is very real and needs to be exposed.

WE Muslims are humans also. One must treat us like humans. It is nothing but the truth when i tell you that thousands and thousands of Bosniak women and young girls were RAPED In Bosnia ,during that aggression. It is nothing but the truth when i tell you that even my own kind ,Bosniak girls,hurt me,many of them,by calling me ugly when that isn’t my fault,played me and lied, well,i still feel bad because many were unlucky in the aggression. And please don’t worry,i come in peace and hate injustice-i love Serbian women/girls. Other horrible war crimes were also done to Bosnian Muslims.(Bosniaks!!!!!!)

It was a terrible genocide. Too many crimes had been done there to the poor Muslims. We'll never forget/forgive.

Wow what a skill..."his memory is rock solid, when he goes back in time he remembers exactly as he perceived it"... Neat trick!

❤

I don't understand how people still calling him a hero ?

I am not doubting the severity of the Genocide, but his testimony was insincere. Perhaps he was instructed to show emotion. If I were a juror, I would take issue with it.

As a Serbian hearing stories from my mom and grandpa about how messy the war was and how they suffered imensely at the hands of the Bosnians and Croats, I cant take any side. It was a waste of so many lives for nothing. We should all move on as brothers us Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats.

where is love

As a Canadian soldier I was there in 1992 with the UN, in 1996 with IFOR and lastly in 1998 with SFOR. What a brutal war it was.. Neighbours killed neighbours but were friends prior to the start of the war. Every side would say the same stories of how we as Canadians helped the other side, and the other sides said the same thing? It has now again become a very beautiful region much safer now again.

2:58 What the fuck is Father Ted doin in a Balkans War Tribunal

Mile voli disko

What is sad that this terrible killings became political went so far that they not longer grieve but pushing this to become genocide but its not nor will ever be genocide as genocide is when someone killed women children and man . Even judge said it isn’t genocide as mladic was evacuating women and children.. again its terrible thing..and serbs victims are quickly forgotten who were slaughtered prior to this which led those soldiers to kill some prisoners and most here were killed by shelling not executions

Its easy to speak "the truth" at court and be persuasive when bad guys put a few bucks into your pocket and point a gun at your childs head.

Humans are very good at adapting and overcoming. This is a scene put on for the court. And this even made me cringe. Coming from someone whose dad was murdered in war.

I want to meet and interview him so bad.

I’m not defending mladic but imagine how many American generals you could charge for the same things

😞

why does the testimony tie change? compare. 6:40 and 6:50

We all know what they did to Bosniak women and young girls in the aggression on Bosnia.😡👎

As a Bosnian, i may say that there was no Innocent side, there was 4000 Serbs killed, 1.500 Croats, and 33000 killed Bosniaks (All of those numbers are just civilians, there is 150000+ killed soliders) true, yoi can't compare 4000 killed Serbs with 33000 Bosniaks, but still, killing one innocent life is a crime. We can not forget this war, and will not. My dad and all of his 5 brothers fought in this war, same as my Mother's brothers..

As a guy from serbia I don't and never did support anything my country did in that war

may all bosniak victims find peace and justice. trauma affects everyone differently, i’m sure if he was crying then the gen0cide lovers would say he’s faking it as well

WARNING! Mutt-Alert at 2:30

war is never good and both sides are responsible to an extent. US does these trials but didn't do after the armenian genocide during Calvon coolidge time. They humiliated us Armenians and no we will never get our justice. Rip to all who died.

nico bellic

Hello, May I share an Old Testament Verse with you from Daniel 7:14 "And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a Kingdom, that all people, nations, & languages, should SERVE Him; his dominion is an Everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not pass away, and His Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Also, can I share Isaiah 53:5 " But HE was WOUNDED For our TRANSGRESSIONS, he was BRUISED for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His STRIPES we are HEALED." God the Father loves you so much that He sent Holy Sinless Jesus (His Holy Son) to earth to be born of a virgin.Then, to grow up and die on a cross for our sins. He was in the tomb for 3 days, then Father God raised Holy and Sinless Jesus Christ (Y'shua) to Life! He appeared to people and went back to Heaven. We must receive Sinless Jesus sincerely to be God's child(John 1:12).After we get saved by grace through faith in Christ, if we truly love the Lord Jesus Christ, then we will obey Jesus(John 14:15). Mark 1:15 "And saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Jesus said in John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. "There's a real hell. It says in Revelation 21:8 "But for the cowardly, & unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, & immoral persons sorcerers & idolaters & all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire & brimstone..." Please sincerely receive Holy Jesus and put your true faith and trust in Him today and please repent. Will you have a Real encounter with Holy Lord Jesus (Y'shua is His Hebrew Name) and stay in a Genuine relationship with Him daily please?

it was a war, not a genocide, 20 thousand Serbs died in that war, did anyone get an adequate punishment for that, Bosnia did not need a war at all, and we know that they did not cause it, they are the same ones who started the war in Ukraine...

People fighted for freedom during this civill war

Didn't he kill himself... the war criminal?

Hack journo!!!

It's easy to focus on the gory details of war, but much more effort to ask yourself who caused this?? The real perpetrators sit in Washington DC to this day collecting high dollar salaries, or in cushy jobs in the defense industry with generous retirement packages.....

Why is this an American trial for events that happened in Europe?

Kako mi je ovaj pobegao?Verovatno smo bili pijani.Ja sam ih 30-40 sam poslao Alahu.Zao mi je sto ih nisam vise.Pozdrav iz Beograda!Kuci imam bas tu pusku koju sam duziio.Doneo sam je za usponemenu.Nemam metaka vise.Ali tu je.Broj 184221 proizvedena 1983 godine!Zastava preklopni kundak.Pozzz

I am a Serb refugee from Bosnia. All sides suffered, but no side had better western media coverage and support than Muslims. Some of the clips and testimonies were filmed like a top notch production! The camera angles, the sound. Real awesome stuff! There is only One that will see ALL sides and provide proper justice and thats God. I’m ready to meet him, and I’m so glad im not one of these movie makers who so delicately created this heart tugging content🙄

That SOB is the devil

No people but the Yugoslavian people can understand what happened in this war. This was a kangaroo court.

"He is innocent " is the job of the defendant,always!😡😡😡

Eto ko su Srbi zato sto su se ljudi rodili kao muslimani ko je to mogao birati nemam rijeci svi pisete na English ja sam rodjen USA 🇺🇸 pa cu ovako na vasem ...

This right here is how propaganda looks like. How about letting go of the almost telenovela like build-up, and those unnecessary images of war. and let people hear and think for themselves. Whatever is the truth, this approach hurts it.

Hope Dubya, Cheney, Obama and Trump will also be judged.

He would have real tears. Sorry. Coached bull crap.

Kosovo Is Albania

shall be jailed people who does crime ,not who order,because if i am telling you to jump from tower would you do it ?????

War or Genocide? Scum like this criminal must be given the same traetment as their victims. They're coming back in 2023. The world cannot wait and be silent again.

This was very heavy.

I am Serbian I feel compassion for this man and all people who were victims in Srebrenica. But i wish that all Bosnians feel the same for people who were killed and expelled from Sarajevo and other places and cities. And i wish this page makes video about Serbian victims as well otherwise it will be just a propaganda video. This international court have only political decisions as they set free all people who expelled and Killed Serbian civils from Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Serbia is a country with most refugees but still the only country accused of ethnic cleansing. USA is the main one responsible for flaming up the hate and Yugoslavia falling upart as they didnt want strong communist country that can incline towards Russia. They did the same with other Communist blocks in the world like SSSR and Czechoslovakia. And the victims are just numbers they dont care about. Their recipe is still the same in all wars for last 50 years, and just to remind that there are 15 Million people died in their wars since Vietnam. I consider Bosnians as good neighbours and brothers and hope we will reconcile one day but first we have to get rid of all foreign influence.

Ratko Mladić is a monster!

I love the white Muslims.

What nobody ever mentions about Srebrenica or Bosnia in general in these documentaries about the "boys" part of "men and boys" is that many Bosniak boys were actually child soldiers and that, at the time (until December 1995), the international community still tolerated the use of CHILD SOLDIERS as long as they were 15-17 year old "volunteers" (?!!).

Civilans died on both sides in this war and its relly sad. but westwrn media only shows one side they never showed the videos of the mujahideen soldiers playing soccer with the heads of serbian boys not soldiers.... but ofcorse western media wont show it the u.s help the mujahidden soldiers to get to bosnia to fight

ratko MLADITSCH ist EVIL & više VOLIM stand-UP komičare OD klinike ŠVARCVALD X#○

This is what you call islamophobia.

To make at least one film about the suffering of Serbs... The last wars have killed more than 30.000 Serbs, did not you know?