LARGEST DATABASE OF TESTIMONIES ON SUFFERING OF SERBIAN PEOPLE OPENED

BANJA LUKA, MAY 19 /SRNA/ - The largest database of recorded testimonies on the suffering of the Serbian people in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, containing 1,500 recorded testimonies, was opened today at a ceremonial academy of the Memorial Centre of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka.

Director of the Memorial Centre of Republika Srpska, Denis Bojić, said that the database is one of the key national projects in the field of culture of remembrance, with the potential to become a key reference point for scientific research, educational processes, and public use of historical knowledge. "It is one of the most significant national projects in the field of preserving the culture of remembrance, which, by its importance, goes beyond the boundaries of the territory and represents a lasting contribution to the entire Serbian people and to the preservation of historical memory and identity of Serbs," Bojić said at the ceremonial academy at the Banski Dvor in Banja Luka, attended by officials of Republika Srpska. He said that the project aims to establish continuity in the culture of remembrance, oral history, and the systematic documentation of historical suffering. "The Memorial Centre's database is a unique epicentre of social, scientific, and institutional knowledge about the suffering of the Serbian people, based on recorded testimonies of family members of killed and missing civilians and soldiers from the Defensive–Patriotic War, as well as all those whose fate bears witness to Serbian suffering and struggle," Bojić said. He stated that the database includes testimonies from the territory of Republika Srpska, BiH, and Serbia, particularly from Kosovo and Metohija, the former Republic of Serbian Krajina and Croatia, as well as testimonies about the genocide against Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia /NDH/ during World War II.