The idea for the book and blog project Bosnien in Berlin grew out of a panel discussion at the Berlin Science Week 2020 @ HU, titled Remembering, Researching, Coming to Terms / Srebrenica in Berlin: Young Berliners from Bosnia or How Traumas Can Become Research Topics. The discussion brought together five young women from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, and Germany, offering diverse perspectives.
Though their ages and backgrounds differed, the speakers shared a common focus: both personally and academically, they engage deeply with the Bosnian War (1992–1995) and how it has shaped their lives. The war ended over 25 years ago, culminating tragically in the genocide at Srebrenica in July 1995. This event, along with the Dayton Agreement, inspired the initial panel, organized by the Chair of South Slavic Studies at HU Berlin and moderated by historian Thomas Schad.
The full two-hour conversation is available on YouTube. Yet, after the event, all participants felt their stories were far from fully told. Motivated by strong public interest and positive feedback, they quickly decided to continue sharing their stories through a multiperspective book, with the working title Bosnien in Berlin.
This project welcomes a rich mix of genres, from autobiographical and (semi-)fictionalized texts, essays, and artistic works to interviews and, occasionally, scholarly contributions. The goal is to reach as broad and diverse an audience as possible. Pieces of memory and stories about experiences before, during, and after the war—flight, arrival, youth, and career paths—form the mosaic that will become the book.
The book aims to contribute to a contemporary, multiperspective culture of remembrance that belongs to Berlin and Germany as much as the Baščaršija belongs to Sarajevo.
Each author decides what they want to share and what they prefer to keep private. All contributions are planned to be translated into the BKMS language (referred to as Jezik), and the book will also be published in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The editorial team strives to translate all contributions and website content into Jezik as well. Until a more advanced multilingual website is available, all Jezik posts can be found under the same category (Jezik*).
[Cover picture: Sabrina Halilović, 2021.]
