At a time where glorifying war criminals has been normalized, when facts about the crimes that took place on the territory of Serbia are not widely known, the website warinserbia.rs attempts to, in a simple and wholesome way, challenge the myth that there was no war in Serbia and that Serbia did not partake in the wars that disintegrated Yugoslavia. Because – it did happen.
The core part of the website is a knowledge database which compiles texts and analyses about secret mass graves, forced mobilization, paramilitary units, terror against minorities and their persecution, as well as the rebellions in southern Serbia and the anti-war movement. The knowledge database also features analyses based on court-determined facts, information made public by organizations that documented human losses in Serbia at the time, media articles as well as official data of local and international institutions.
Another important segment of the website is the interactive map of Serbia which demonstrates 91 places of crimes, persecution, confinement, enforced disappearances, secret mass graves, paramilitary unit camps, but also the places of anti-war movements. The map gives insight into how widespread and systematic the crimes were on the territory of Serbia.
The testimonies of victims’ families, witnesses and survivors are pushed out of the public space, while war criminals occupy those spaces to deny their crimes. For this reason, we have dedicated a segment of the website containing the testimonies of witnesses, survivors and victims’ families affected by war crimes on the territory of Serbia, titled Victims’ voices.
The warinserbia.rs website is a useful online tool which enables users to learn about crimes committed against ethnic and religious minorities in Serbia towards the end of the 20th century. The platform is also a reminder and call to all current and future political leadership in Serbia to acknowledge that without the recognition of victims, conviction of war criminals, and rejection of crime-glorifying politics, Serbia cannot thrive as a civil society that values peace above all else.
The warinserbia.rs website was supported by the Federal Republic of Germany Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
