The training is an opportunity to open up grievances and discuss the things we hold against people “from the other side”, but also to see which topics we are forbidden to open inside our societies.
activities
Biber 03: Press Release
Press Release on the completion of the Third Biber Competition
First the Right Way
The two monuments are separated by the main street in the old town of Jajce. Both symbolically and physically separated, the one to fallen fighters of ARBiH next to a mosque, the other to fallen HVO fighters, across the street, under a large cross. Together, the veterans paid their respects to both, thus bringing these two physically and symbolically separate monuments together
War Veterans in Jajce: We Need to Honour All Victims
Mixed group of war veterans, some 40 former members of the Army of RBiH, HVO, HV, VRS, JNA and VJ visited sites of suffering and memorials in Jajce to pay their respects to the victims
“War of Memories” in Jajce: Rehumanising the Enemy
Organised by the Centre for Nonviolent Action Sarajevo/Belgrade, with the support of the Jajce Culture Centre and the Veterans’ Association, the photography exhibition “War of Memories” was opened on Monday, 23 September 2019. At the opening of the exhibition, we organised a public discussion titled “From a War of Memories to Remembering the War” and this time subtitled “Fighters in War and Peace”
“Easy Notes” for Difficult Commemorations
The very fact of former enemies attending the commemoration together, paying their respects to victims of all wars, sends the message that we are no longer enemies and that we never want to be enemies again. That the suffering, fear and pain we have all experienced connect us and bring us closer together. That we grieve and empathise with each other’s pain, to ease it, and to make sure it never happens again.
War Veterans from the Region at the Commemoration in Grabovica: Killing Civilians Cannot Be Justified
War veterans, former members of the Army of RBiH, HVO, HV, VRS and VJ laid flowers and paid their respects to civilians killed in Grabovica. “The killing of innocent civilians cannot be justified, and even today families are still looking for the remains of 17 of their beloved. We cannot turn back the time and put things right, but we want to show that, with all our differences, we can remember all victims together, honour them together and build a more just society,” said Amer Delić from the Centre for Nonviolent Action, a war veteran of the Army of RBiH from Zavidovići.
“Reconciliation?!” Handbook in Macedonian
The translation of the Handbook came in response to the wishes and needs of people from Macedonia
Full Line
Our ninth action of marking unmarked sites of suffering is complete. This time, we visited sites in Mostar, Konjic, Sarajevo and Istočno Sarajevo.
Human Dignity Is Inviolable
At the initiative of our friends from Germany, Apatiner Gemeinschaft, the Donauschwäbisches Zentralmuseum (DZM) from Ulm and the Donaubüro invited us to a panel discussion on memory, reconciliation, and research on the Danube Swabians
“War of Memories” in Goražde: For Memory that is More than Pre-military Training
We were glad that we were joined in Goražde by figures from its political life, who also have the power and responsibility to forge a different culture of memory
“Introduction to Peacebuilding”, Mir-Paqe-Мир, Kruševo, 10 – 19 May 2019
Overcoming official borders, but even more so, those that exist in people’s heads is the biggest challenge when it comes to peacebuilding in the region. Over its nine days of intensive activities, the Mir-Paqe-Мир training becomes a space for free exchange of opinions and for re-examining your own views. The Mir-Paqe-Мир training requires courage of the participants in deciding to face up to accepted and unconscious stereotypes imposed by our societies so as to transform them (at least) in their own minds.
When Ahmići and Trusina Meet
The presence of our mixed group of war veterans from the region at the commemoration in Ahmići on 15 and 16 April 2019 completed a year-long journey along the untrodden paths of memory. Trusina – 16 April 2018 Ahmići – 16 April 2019.
War Veterans from the Region at the Commemoration in Ahmići: We Need to Remember All Victims
“We are here to show by our presence that we can and must show compassion and respect not just for victims from our own people, but for others too. To show that there is another way. Then we can set the foundations for peace and coexistence in this region, which is our goal. So that our children never have to go through what we went through,” said Krešimir Ivančić, a veteran of the Croatian Army.
“It is political to remove eternity out of hatred”
To come face to face with yourself, with others, to regain and re-earn the trust of others, to believe that we can and must live together, these are just some of the steps that the veterans undertake when making visits across the region. By no means easy, these steel-shod steps rung out loud and clear, confident and without fear, throughout our time in Niš and Aleksinac