The Power of Memory: The Implementation and Effects of Post-War Memorialization Efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Memorialization is a tool of transitional justice that utilizes the power of memory to recognize a society’s painful history to cultivate a new understanding of past and present injustices. In post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, the establishment of memorialization efforts is highly contested, as they are implemented by local communities, political elites, and the international community in an ethno-nationalist society with a unique memoryscape that widely functions on ethnic division rather than unification. This thesis utilizes the case studies of the Slana Banja memorial complex in Tuzla and the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial and Cemetery in Potočari to analyze and contrast the forms, functions, successes, and limitations of memorialization efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through my research, I am to highlight the power of memory as a tool to alter societies, demonstrating that history is never confined to the past and is utilized to adjust the present and influence the future