UNMIK ON AIR

11 July 2005

MOTHER FROM SREBRENICA

By Zoran CULAFIC

Kada Hotic: I’ll never understand what happened. I’m not a politician, I’m an ordinary woman, but I’ll never understand why there are wars, everything can be resolved through dialogue.

Kada Hotic from Srebrenica, the Bosnian town now synonymous with one of the worst bouts of ethnic cleansing since the end of the Second World War.

Hello and welcome to UNMIK ON AIR with Sputnik Kilambi and Martin Redi.

On July 1995 Kada Hotic lost her son and husband, and many other close relatives, after General Mladic and his army entered Srebrenica. In her mid sixties, Kada has rebuilt her life and now lives close to her daughter and grandchildren in Sarajevo. Returning to Srebrenica is not an option, but Kada has neither bitterness nor hatred towards the people who once were neighbors and friends.  But she still can’t understand what evil seed took root in people, making them worse than furious animals.

Kada Hotic: Does Mladic need to say, well we took revenge on the Turks because of Turkish rule It was a long time ago what do I have in common with Turkish rulers or those born more recently, what have they to do with Turkish rule. Shall we revive such things that date back to who knows how many centuries ago some stupidities, to hand down to youngsters. We all are supposed to be reasonable people, to be able to live together. You are a human being, so am I ... What the problem is, I’ll never understand.

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Kada Hotic: I often think about the criminals, Oh my God, how they could do it, those victims were humans also we are all flesh and blood and if someone ordered them to do it, it must have been hard to obey it must have been very hard for them. But I pray to God they’ll face the court, and take their responsibility. I can’t help them neither can I forgive them. But I’m not cursing anyone. I wouldn’t like their children to face any evil. God helps us that everyone gets healed and can live a normal life, God bless us all; give us intelligence and humanity, because, when you hurt, it hurts me too.

It’s very difficult to face the truth, says Kada, it’s bitter, painful, but it’s any day preferable to uncertainty.

Kada Hotic: When they identified my husband I asked them – can you discover the way he was murdered. Did he suffer? And they told me it was a burst of machine-gun fire. I asked one man hit by a bullet – does it hurt when the bullet hit you, No, he said, you feel nothing. And that gave me some relief. But often I think about … when my husband was taken out to be executed what fear did he feel and I know he was thirsty and hungry; I often wonder whether my son; Samir was killed by the bullet and I would be happy if he was maybe he was alive and thrown somewhere in a grave, maybe they cut him up, beat him to death. Such thoughts often prevent me from sleeping. I’d like to ask the forensic people if they know what pain he felt; I must know the truth, I can’t live without the truth. And thank God there are those commissions dealing with this issue.

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Kada Hotic: Do I have friends from before? I thought I had many friends and I think there are still many people who understand me and whom I understand.  There is one person, she is now in Bajina Basta and she was our close friend. She called me by phone – Kada, go out to Ljubovia, Brane will come to pick you, come to us, evil is going to happen where you are; I told her, Vesna, thank you, I can come, I can be your guest a few days, but who knows when all of this will end. I did not believe that it would end like that. And my God, I wish I had taken her advice, but another neighbor, Dubravka, she was a teacher, her husband was chief of police there, and my husband was his deputy at that time she never gave me even a shadow of a suggestion, a hint – Kada take your Samir away go away. She was packing her things planning to go to Bijeljina, I would never have revealed any secret, if only she’d said, go; she knew what was going to happen to us.  I speak with Vesna often on the phone, the one from Bajina Basta, and I told her – you are my friend, no matter what you say today, no matter at all, but you told me then what was important, and I wish I had listened to you. Maybe they would have been alive today, who knows.

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Kada Hotic: We have to lay the foundation for the future generation. I’m worry about my three grandchildren, about my daughter, And my wish is they live in healthy conditions, with healthy people, no matter what ethnicity they are. All over the world mixed people live together and that’s so normal and no one should be disturbed by anyone’s religion. For me, every place of worship is the same and if only our politicians have had just a bit of Tito’s wisdom. Tito was a great man, you don’t have to recognize it, but the world recognized him. People can live together if they find an agreement, no matter who they are and what language they speak and what God they pray to, all of us are human.

Remembering Srebrenica - Kada Hotic talking to UNMIK ON AIR. Thanks for listening.