The Celebration of a Violent Past: About Some Local Sources of the Recent War in Bosnia-Herzegovina
The Celebration of a Violent Past: About Some Local Sources of the Recent War in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Summary/Abstract: Bosnia-Herzegovina is the site of a striking number of World War II monuments erected on or in the immediate vicinity of mass graves. These memorials are bones of contention and generate violent inter--ethnic animosity. This article gives an extensive description of the trials and tribulations of one of these war monuments and the Serb and Croat communities involved. It addresses an aspect of ethnic cleansing that has hitherto been the focus of very little research, i.e. the destruction of mass graves. It is hypothesized that mass graves and the related commemorative ceremonies constitute a key to understanding the stagnating ethnic identification and the recent revival of war violence in rural Bosnia-Herzegovina. The article advocates a more systematic inquiry into the local sources of the war in this part of the former Yugoslavia.

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