GREIF: IT IS A MORAL OBLIGATION TO CONSTANTLY SPEAK ABOUT THE SUFFERING OF SERBS AND JEWS

FOČA, JUNE 10 /SRNA/ - The renowned Israeustali historian Gideon Greif stated that the suffering of Serbs and Jews at the hands of the Nazis and Ustasha must be constantly spoken about so that the victims permanently remain in the collective memory.

At a lecture at the Faculty of Theology in Foča, Greif pointed out that the Serbian and Jewish peoples suffered in exactly the same way.

"It is extremely important to speak about the suffering of Serbs and Jews. Why? Because if the dead could rise and tell us, they would say: 'Speak about it, speak about it constantly, seven days a week, 365 days a year.' It is your and our moral obligation to never stop speaking about the suffering of our two peoples," emphasized Greif.

The lecture by the eminent global expert on Holocaust studies was organized in Foča by the St. Basil of Ostrog Faculty of Orthodox Theology in cooperation with the Center for Socio-Political Research from Banja Luka.

The Dean of the Faculty of Theology Darko Đogo stated that today one often hears voices saying that these topics are outdated.

"A tree without roots cannot have branches either. People who forget the past and suffering cannot have a future. That is why it is very important to us that Professor Greif is here today; it is something that makes a faculty a faculty, to lay our identity and our suffering into the foundations of future generations of students," Đogo pointed out.

He noted that Greif's visit is also important for the city of Foča, which thereby shows that it is a meeting place, where people come, think, and reflect.

"We are in a position to make the truth about the suffering of the Serbian people in Jošanica and Jabuka omnipresent both in Republika Srpska and in Serbian lands, but what is very important is to make it accessible to the global public through Professor Greif," stated Đogo.

The Director of the Center for Socio-Political Research Dušan Pavlović said that by researching the suffering and testifying about it, that is, by taking on the role of the voice of those who were deprived of that right through physical destruction, the freedom of a people is manifested.

"A people that does not fight and win the freedom to be able to design and define its own reality and history has no future and will not exist. It may exist biologically, but opposing interests will impose their truth and reality on it, and in that sense, it is existentially important that we have enough freedom, both internal and political, to call things by their true name," said Pavlović.

Prior to the lecture at the Faculty of Theology, Professor Greif was hosted by the Mayor of Foča Milan Vukadinović, who informed him about the suffering of the Serbian people in the civil war in BiH, especially in the Foča area, which is little known to the global public.

Vukadinović informed the famous historian about the crimes of the Muslim army in the villages of Jabuka and Jošanica, where dozens of Serbian civilians were massacred in 1992.

"What hurts our people the most is that after so many years, the perpetrators of these crimes have not been brought to justice, which we expect, but we also expect the truth about this crime to spread, and that the Serbian people were not the aggressor, but that we defended our homes," said Vukadinović.

The Mayor also informed the guest from Israel about the intentions to build a memorial center in Gornja Jošanica.

"The City Administration wants to involve republic institutions in that process because it is one of the largest execution sites of the Serbian people in the last war," noted Vukadinović.