UDIK Udruženje za društvena istraživanja i komunikacije
The Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK) marked the anniversary of the Kazani massacre with a series of activities last month. In partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung B&H (FES B&H) and Pro Peace B&H (formerly ForumZFD B&H), a roundtable was organized in Sarajevo on Friday, October 24, 2025. The panel entitled “Dealing with the Past as a Precondition for a Safer Future” featured speakers Adi Škaljić (Naša stranka), Erna Mačkić (Post-Conflict Research Center) and historian Edin Omerčić. The discussion was moderated by Oslobođenje’s editor-in-chief Vildana Selimbegović. In her opening remarks, the moderator highlighted UDIK’s advocacy to mark the site of the re-exhumation of the Kazani victims at the St. Joseph cemetery in Sarajevo, emphasizing that “the victims deserve to be recognized, they deserve a memorial plaque in the city where they lived with their neighbors, sharing the everyday life of the siege”.Selimbegović wrote about this event and the articlewas published on October 27 in Oslobođenje.
The introductory lecture was given by historian and journalist Bert Hoppewho spoke about how German society dealt with the atrocities committed by its own people during World War II.
Also on this occasion, it was presented the publication “Kazani: Trials, (Re)exhumations, Memorialization” published this year by UDIK with the support of Pro Peace B&H. In two editions (2016 and 2020), UDIK documented the verdicts related to the Kazani massacre. This third edition is largely revised compared to the previous ones, as it brings the verdicts against Samir Bejtić pronounced in 2021 before the Cantonal Court and in 2023 before the Supreme Court. In addition to the verdicts, the book also includes a chapter on the (re)exhumations of victims with official data from the Institute for Missing Persons of B&H. The book also includes a selection of stories written by Edvin Kanka Ćudić published in the media in previous years. These articles were an important part of the campaign to preserve the memory of the Kazani victims.
On the occasion of the thirty-second anniversary, UDIK published an obituary in the weekend edition of Oslobođenje on October 25 in memory of the victims of the Kazani massacre. The text on the obituary is an example of what the contents of the memorial plaque on Trebević, erected by the city authorities in 2021, should have looked like. To mark the anniversary, the story “A Few Bones, One Life” written by UDIK’s coordinator Edvin Kanka Ćudić was also published in dailyOslobođenje. Dealing with the Past (DwP) published the article named“History as a Life Teacher”.It is a story about the residents of Sarajevo killed in Kazani, Gaj and Grm maline.
We are very grateful to everyone who has contributed to preventing the concealment of the perpetrators’ wartime past and to keeping this painful topic in the public’s focus so that the victims of Kazani receive the respect they deserve. Dealing with the past is a difficult process, but only by working together can we create a safer and better future for all of us.