THROUGH THE ORAL HISTORY METHOD

EVEREYDAY LIFE IN SREBRENICA

TODAY AND TOMORROW

BASIC INFORMATIONS ABOUT MY RESARCH

•Duration: 4 days (15.-18.8.06)

•13 interviews (8 Muslims, 5

Serbs)

•Questions – strictly about the

time before the war and today

Basic statistic information about

SrebrenicaBEFORE THE WAR•Population – 37 000 •Employed – 11 000•Ethnic structure – 28000 / 8000 / 600 / 43

TODAY•Population – 10 500•Employed – 1500 •Ethnic structure – 6000 / 4000 / 60

MAIN GOALS OF MY RESARCHBefore the war/after the war/today

• Relationship in everyday life between Muslim and Serb population

• Economic situation• Religion• School• International community and Srebrenica

• Future of Srebrenica in the eyes of the people

•Interviewees:

local historian, major, local economist, local policeman, restaurant manager, two NGO secretaries, local butcher and folklora dancing leader, shop owner, two local waiters, local journalist, writer and cultural worker, local teacher

QUESTIONSI started with:

•INTRODUCTION OF ME AND MY

WORK

•QUESTION IF I CAN TAPE THE

INTERVIEW

•BASIC INFORMATIONS ABOUT THE

INTERVIEWEE• Age• Ethnic origin• Job

EVERYDAY LIFE RELATIONS•Ethnic relations before and after the war?

•What is you relation with other ethnicity (before/after)?

•How are governments of RS and federation, local authorities and international community treating Srebrenica?

•Mixed marriages (before/after)

•Practical work for building a new relationship

• A personal question (for Muslims); why did you come back?

(are the Muslims coming back?)-2000

•Fundamentalists in Srebrenica today?

LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND POLITICAL PARTIES

•Major and local administration

•Political parties (SDA, SNSD, SDS, SDP)

•role of local authority, UNDP and other international organizations

in creating new, better relations in the community

ECONOMICS and TOURISM•Economic situation in Srebrenica today (before/after)?

•Factories, mining industry, agriculture and employment (before/after in %)

•International community and regeneration of economy

•Tourism (before/after) and good natural resources

•Future of economy and tourism?

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION•Which school, how many pupils, students?

•How many teachers, which ethnicity?

•Which teaching program is official?

•Religion classes?•Relations between pupils?•Where are the pupils from Srebrenica studying?

RELIGION•How are Muslim and Orthodox communities organized, financed?

•Are they working together?•How would you describe religious relations before the war, 1996 – 2006?

•Can you say, religion still creates a border among people of Srebrenica, or is it connecting them?

FUTURE•Does Srebrenica has a bright future?

•Your message to the citizens of BiH and to the world?

SHORT ANALISYS OF THE ANSWERSEVERYDAY LIFE RELATIONS

• It is clear, ethnic relations were much better before the war, in socialistic YUG

• All interviewees still have some friends from other ethnic group, although just one mixed marriage is from the time after the war

• Although a small progress in the last couple of years, the government of Rep. Srpska is still the one, that obstructs normalization of relations between Serbs and Muslims

• Unstable federation can not provide much help, so the main burden is on international organizations

• All points of authority use Srebrenica for collecting political points over the media

• Interesting is, all the interviewees agree, that local authority is making a good job

• Before the war, Srebrenica was one of the 5 most developed communities in BiH, now it is far on the last place

LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND POLITICAL PARTIES• Major Malkić is a Muslim (SDA), his

administration is multiethnic (a lack of educated perssonel – just 7 or 8 people finished university education)

• SDA is the leading political party in Srebrenica, other parties are SNSD, SDS and SDP(the only one multiethnic)

• The problem is, international organizations are working mostly on rebuilding the infrastructure, so the main burden of creating new human relations is in the hands of a couple of individuals from both ethnicities

ECONOMICS and TOURISM• Economy right after the war was totally destroyed

• Situation today is not much better (more than 80% unemployed)

• The main business today is agriculture

• There are some little bright points – Cimos

• Those who work, have mostly very low payments

• Before the war there were very developed mining industry, a lot of factories and good agriculture

• The words I heard often were, that the international organizations should arrange jobs and business for the population, not just to build houses and roads, and make business for themselves

• Tourism before the war was very developed too (hunting, fishing, health resorts…)

• Today tourism is on zero point, the problem is, international authorities are preventing giving licences for tourist business to individuals

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION• Before the war there was 11000 pupils

• Today there are about 1000 (elementary and highschool)

• School program of Rep. Srpska• A lot of Muslim pupils visit schools out of Srebrenica (some villages have federation programs)

• Just a couple of Muslim teachers• Mixed classes, religion classes seperated

• There were some small conflicts between pupils (politicians do not want to see real problems – higyena, heating…)

• Serb students are visiting universities in Zvornik ,Bijelina, Pale, Banjaluka, Serbia

• Muslim pupils are studying in Tuzla and Sarajevo

• There is a lack of young educated people, because they rather leave Srebrenica, they see no future there

• Bright point – in 2006 Sarajevo university organized law and management study in Srebrenica

• Young people of both ethnicities visit different cultural events together (concerts…) – youth center

RELIGION• Orthodox, Muslim and a small Catholic community

• Before the war there was cooperation

• Today no cooperation, working for themselves

• Bright point – House of trust• Financing – from diaspora, local authority

• Islamic center financed from Chicago

• religion is still creating borders among people of Srebrenica

FUTURE•Does Srebrenica has a bright future?