Washington: Bosnian genocide survivors seek state remembrance day
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Becar Hodzic may have been only a year old when his surviving family fled his hometown of Srebrenica in Bosnia, but now, at 17, he can't forget.
"Me and my brothers, we're like the only ones that have a dad, you know?" said Becar. "Pretty much everybody else from my dad's side... they don't have a dad."
Srebrenica was declared a U.N.-protected area during the Bosnian war in the 1990's, but Serbs took over the town on July 11, 1995. They then killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys, one of the bloodiest massacres in a genocide that claimed about 100,000 lives.
Forensics experts have now identified thousands of victims, including Becar's uncles, some cousins and grandfather, he said.
The remains of 613 victims have been identified this year. On Monday, Bosnians living in Washington state will mourn them as they mark the 16th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre.
Thousands of refugees now living here want to make sure future generations never forget.
A generation of young Bosnian Americans are pushing state lawmakers to recognize July 11th, 2012 as Bosnian Genocide Remembrance Day.
"To enable people like us to speak up, to say what we went through, so people of Washington state can hear our stories as well," said Mirza Velagic, who was six years old when his family fled the city of Banja Luka.
With wanted military leaders like Ratko Mladic now under arrest and facing war crimes charges, they believe it's time to speak up about what they went through," said Mirza. He added more than 4,500 people have signed an online petition supporting the resolution
"I remember our mom telling our dad he had to hide, so he had to go in the closet," said Mirza. "Whenever these men showed up, no man should be seen in the house."
His sister Zlatka was nine when they were forced out of their homes in 1992.
"It could have been a couple hundred people in buses that were dropped off at a certain point," she said, "and we were just ordered out, and to start walking, and at some point, sniper shots were coming our way."
"You kind of feel safe in the environment you're in, your neighborhoods, your school, your peers, your friends and all that, and suddenly that's all gone," she added.
Added Mirza: "Just this jeering, this feeling that these people who you knew, your neighbors who you loved and trusted, that now all of a sudden you can't trust them."
But while fear and mistrust may be tempered by time, they hope a state recognized day of remembrance will keep the tales of courage and sacrifice alive.
"If I forget what happened... my kids will never know, my grandkids will never know. They'll never know what happened in my family's history," said Becar.