A museum for the perpetrators on the premises of a former concentration camp

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls for an immediate halt to the construction of a museum on the premises of the former concentration camp Heliodrom in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina): “The Croat-nationalist Party HDZ is planning to honor convicted murderers and, thus, to mock the victims. This would fan the flames of the smoldering conflict and could unnecessarily impede the difficult reconciliation process in Bosnia,” criticized Jasna Causevic, STP expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, in Göttingen today. “This museum must not be built under any circumstances. In a multi-ethnic state, there can only be peace if crimes from the past are talked about – and if it is possible to commemorate the victims in dignity.”

Therefore, the STP sent an appeal to the German Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, to diplomatic missions in Sarajevo, and to other European committees and institutions, asking them to take decisive measures against this gross attack on the historical commemoration of the human rights violations. Further, memorial sites in Germany were asked to provide support and show solidarity with the victims and the survivors of the crimes in Bosnia.

According to the plans of the Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica, HDZ), the museum is supposed to honor the Croatian Defense Council (Hrvatsko vijeće obrane, HVO). “Those were the combat units that, in 1992, established the concentration camp in Mostar and committed serious atrocities there. According to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the crimes are to be seen as crimes against humanity,” Causevic recalled. In a letter by the Working Group on Bosnia and Herzegovina, historian David Pettigrew explained: “It would be simply unthinkable if a museum commemorating the Wehrmacht, the SS (Schutzstaffel), or the Einsatzgruppen, for example, were to be established at the former site of a Nazi concentration camp.” Instead of a museum for the HVO, it would be reasonable to install a memorial plaque describing what happened at Heliodrom in 1993 and 1994.

The irreverent measures are part of a larger-scale anti-Bosniak effort that the HDZ is pushing through with in Bosnia. “In the face of this callous violation of moral principles and international standards, it is necessary to act swiftly and decisively,” Causevic emphasized. “We are asking that all public and diplomatic channels are used to preserve historical truth. This would send a powerful message that the international community will not tolerate the glorification of war crimes or attempts to hollow out our shared values.”