Account of an event · Bijeli Potok · May 26, 1992 – June 8, 1992
Bijeli Potok, June 1992: Men and Boys Separated from Their Families
On 1 June 1992 in Bijeli Potok near Zvornik, Serb forces separated Bosniak men and boys from the surrounding villages from women, children and the elderly and took them to the Technical School in Karakaj. The detainees died there from heat and thirst and were beaten and then shot, while some were taken to Pilica and to Gera's slaughterhouse. According to Anadolu Agency, around 675 men and boys were killed, and the remains of around 245 victims have still not been found.
Where and when
Zvornik
- Date
- May 26, 1992 – June 8, 1992
- Place
- Zvornik, Divič, Klisa, Đulići, Pilica, Crni Vrh, Memići, Kula Grad
- Coordinates
- 44.39° N · 19.10° E
The Fall of Zvornik and the Encirclement of the Villages
Serb units took Zvornik on 8 April 1992. Many Bosniaks took refuge at Kula Grad, but Serb paramilitary formations and police seized it on 26 April 1992. At the end of April, the Serb authorities took control of Đulići, and the residents had to hand over their weapons.
From 26 to 27 May 1992, the residents of Divič and Bijeli Potok were expelled. Civilians from the surrounding villages gathered in Klisa. According to Anadolu Agency, around 6,000 civilians had gathered there by 31 May. According to the judgment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), on 1 June 1992 military and paramilitary units surrounded around 4,000 unarmed Bosniak refugees from 13 villages in Klisa and drove them towards Đulići.
The Separation of Families in Bijeli Potok
On the same day, 1 June 1992, families were separated in Bijeli Potok. Men and boys, the youngest of whom were around fifteen years old, were separated from women, children and the elderly. The women and children were taken to Memići in the Kalesija municipality. For many families, this was the last time they were together.
The Technical School in Karakaj
The men were taken to the Technical School (TŠC) in Karakaj near Zvornik. According to the indictment of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, around 700 Bosniak men and boys aged approximately 15 to 70 were unlawfully detained in the school; Anadolu gives the same estimate, while BIRN reports around 400 men from Bijeli Potok.
The detainees were crammed together without water, in great heat. Researcher Muamer Džananović described these conditions in the words: "It was a very hot day, they had no water and they were exhausted." Around twenty detainees died; according to Anadolu, they suffocated in the overcrowded room. In the following days the detainees were severely beaten. Around 160 of them were taken out in small groups and shot. Others had to carry away the bodies and never returned.
Pilica and Gera's Slaughterhouse
According to the ICTY judgment, on 5 June 1992 around 550 detainees from the Technical School were transferred to the cinema hall in Pilica. Some of them were then taken to the slaughterhouse known as Gerina klaonica (Gera's slaughterhouse) in Karakaj, where guards made them stand facing a wall and shot a large number of them. According to Anadolu Agency and the judgment of the Higher Court in Belgrade, the shooting at Gerina klaonica took place on 8 June 1992; according to Anadolu, two people survived it.
The Victims and the Search for Remains
According to Anadolu Agency, a figure also cited by researcher Muamer Džananović, around 675 men and boys from several villages of the Zvornik municipality were killed. Some families lost all their men, others four or five sons. Nazija Beganović lost her husband and six sons and died without having found their remains.