Holocaust and the Meaning of the Srebrenica Genocide: A Reflection on a Controversy

Over the past year, a series of controversies have erupted regarding the role of Holocaust scholars in determining whether other, more recent mass atrocities (in China, Myanmar, Syria, and elsewhere) amount to the category of genocide. In this Reflection, I turn to one such controversy: the attempt by Bosnian Serb political elites to use international Holocaust experts to determine that the most internationally visible mass crime of the Bosnian war – the genocide in Srebrenica in 1995 – did not, in fact, constitute genocide. I first provide the background to the controversy. I then explain why the finding of genocide for Srebrenica is so resisted in Republika Srpska (as well as in Serbia), by linking genocide denial to the way in which the Holocaust has been instrumentalized in the region. I conclude by considering the role international scholars of the Holocaust play in this epistemic contestation.