Exactly 19 years ago, the Srebrenica - Potocari Memorial Center was officially opened as a permanent testimony and memorial to the victims of the genocide committed in July 1995 in that area, Anadolu Agency reported Tuesday. 

On this day in 2003, the Memorial Center in Potocari was opened by then US President Bill Clinton. In the Potocari Memorial Center, thousands of victims of the genocide of July 1995, committed by military, police and paramilitary formations from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entity Republika Srpska (RS) and Serbia, were buried.  

The first collective funeral at the Potocari Memorial Center was held on March 31, 2003, and the first 600 identified persons were buried at that time. The Srebrenica – Potocari Memorial Center is a unique institution that deals with the memory of the July 1995 genocide in Srebrenica, but also with the memory of war operations from the very beginning to the end of the 1992-1995 war in BiH. 

Emir Suljagic, the general manager of Memorial Center, said that September 20 is a significant date for the Memorial Center, the surviving victims of genocide and the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina in general. 

“This is an important date for this country, for us and for history. This is the official date when the first institution in our country was founded that openly, publicly and systematically commemorates the crime committed against us. Its very existence represents a quantum leap in comparison to all our previous attempts to record our history,” said Suljagic. 

Munira Subasic, the head of the Association “Movement of Mothers of the Srebrenica and Zepa Enclaves,” said that the Memorial Center was officially opened on this day and that it is a day of great importance. 

“Our fight hasn’t stopped. However, we all managed to have a place to come to. After the genocide, we managed to raise more than five thousand children who never thought of revenge. This date is important to all of us”, said Subasic. 

The Memorial Center today hosts exhibitions dedicated to the murdered, testimonies of survivors and families of genocide victims, a multimedia room, as well as a space designed to educate visitors about the crimes committed in and around Srebrenica, and their subsequent prosecution in international and domestic courts.