Peace March
With tears rolling down her wrinkled cheeks, 52 year old Amira Hodzic can feel a little in peace. Looking at a picture frame with two sepia toned photographs of a young man who no one will know of. “I can sleep better now, knowing they found him”, she says holding the frame. “I have nothing left thanks to them” referring to the men who killed her 14 year old son. “I want people to be happy at my funeral because I will be back with them.” Having lost her beloved husband and son during the Balkan war Hodzic tries to live a normal life.
A quarrel within former Yugoslavia in 1992 led to the breaking up of four countries that once were united as one. Once the area was split ,the 3 three different ethnicities of people living in Yugoslavia which were Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian split up and the Serbs waged war against the others. What the world thought was just a war for controlling land ended up being more than just that. This wasn’t just a regular war this was an attempt to wipe out a certain group of people that dwelled in the Bosnian region of what was former Yugoslavia. “1992 was the last time I saw him before he went off to fight the war”, says Hodzic
The war lasted 3 years and seeing the end coming near the Serb forces in a last attempt to cleanse the region of Bosnian Muslims attacked an area that was “a safe area” in Srebrenica that was filled with refugees. UN peacekeepers controlled the area but quickly gave it away once Serbs forces came in. “Two soldiers came up to me and ripped my son away and told me he is safe with them and that was the last time I seen him”, sobbed Hodzic. Thousands of men and boys as young as 13 were separated from the women and killed. “We found a trail and started walking away from that dreadful place alongside thousands of others”. Many died during the walk to a Bosnian army base where they would reach safety. While it was mostly women and children, a few men who managed to escape led the way and cared for the elderly and sick. “There were mothers crying but it was mostly a silent march” said Hodzic
This year Amira returned to the same place after hearing great news. “I got a call telling me they have found my sons body”. She left the U.S to go and give her son a proper burial alongside hundreds of other bodies that were found recently. A march from Srebrenica to a burial site takes places every year in on the 11th of July thousands of people from across the world take part in the event which is declared “The march for peace”. A long journey is re lived by those who walked on the trail back during the war. “I still have pictures in my head and walking on the trail made me have memories of the day I walked on this trail during the war”, says Osman Hasanovic who has been to the march several times. “Each year there’s more and more people and I’m glad that this time is for remembrance and not the real thing”, he added.
“Much has changed now, what used to be just a trail is now a paved road with memorials”, says Hasanovic. Hasanovic said that last time going was different, “I took my kids there to show them the horrors of war and so they never forget what happened. The trail is about 70 miles long but many dedicate themselves for the journey by bringing camping equipment and food. When the real march took place none of these were available at the time. “My feet hurt for days but giving my son a proper burial was a reward for that”, said Hodzic.
I myself have had the chance to march the trail, well twice actually. The first time my mom carried me, as she was one of the many who went on it in 1995 during the war. I was too young to remember anything at that time. But the last time I went which was two years ago I remember it pretty clearly. It was a strange feeling and I kept on thinking about death which gave me chills while I was there. I’ve seen enough documentaries on this war so that’s all I could picture the whole time I was there. But it wasn’t all that sad I had some great memories there too. Especially meeting people from other countries that were there which was weird I kept thinking “Why are they here?”
To me it was a long trek, but learning more about the history was priceless. When I got there the bus dropped me and my dad off. I got out and felt like I didn’t belong there. Then out of nowhere a man walks over to my dad and they start a conversation. My dad introduces me to him and says “this man is the reason you’re still alive”. I found out while we were hiding in an abandoned house with several other families and mortar hit the side of the house. He told me that the window broke and I had shards of glass in my arm. So what did he do he risked his life and ran me to a make shift hospital for the doctor to care for it. He then brought me back safely to my mother. I thanked the man feeling awkward because I didn’t know him.
We started walking early in the morning, and there were thousands of people alongside us. After about an hour walking I was exhausted. There were many rest stops so we would stop ever so often. We bought souvenirs and ate on the way there. After what seemed to have taken forever we finally got to the memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives at that tragic event. There were old women crying and some lost conciseness. I was amazed by all the names on the memorial. After viewing the memorial came the sad part which was the funeral of the bodies recently found that year. I was shocked to see that after about a decade there were bodies still being found and there’s still more bodies that haven’t been recovered.
There is one person who I thought would never go to it. Mirko Jovovic a former Serb solider also had the chance the march on the trail. “War is war but what happened on that day was wrong”, he says. “I did get evil looks from some when I told them I am Serbian, but they had a right to give me those looks after what my people had done.”
Works Cited
Hodzic, Amira. Personal Interview. 1 October 2011
Hasanovic, Osman. Personal Interview. 1 October 2011
Jovovic, Mirko. Personal Interview. 4 October 2011
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