The Journal

Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Max Gersh Dr. Svetlana Broz speaks to a full house Oct. 31 in the Emerson Library Conference Room. Broz encourages "civil courage" in the youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina, easing the painful memories of the 1992 - 1995 Bosnian War.

Dr. Svetlana Broz, a human rights activist based out of Sarejevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the 1992 - 1995 Bosnian War was a result of politics using the media and external forces to fuel people's fear of each other. She said people did not feel an ethnic conflict toward one another until they became the victims of systematic government propaganda.

During her tour through the United States, Broz took time out Oct. 31 to visit Webster University in the Emerson Library's Conference room. Not only an activist, but also the granddaughter of the former leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, she led a talk to a packed audience about the injustices that have occurred in Eastern European regions during the past 12 years.

Broz has dedicated her life to helping the youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina devote themselves to "civil courage" in order to secure a brighter future for this area of the world. She stressed the importance of letting go of the ethnic prejudices through realizing the truth of the situation, taking responsibility for the actions that occurred and reconciling with the human injustices committed in the past.

The 1992-1995 Balkan War began when a coalition of Eastern European countries, the former Yugoslavia, broke up and Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader, gained control of much of the region's power. He began to raid surrounding countries with the focus of wiping out certain ethnic groups.

"This was not a war because of ancient hatred between ethnicities," Broz said. "In fact, even during the war there was a 25 percent rate of mixed ethnic marriages."

Warren Rosenblum, assistant professor of modern European history, organized the talk.

"The fact that she's working and talking with teens about these issues is unique. I've never seen anybody from that part of the world doing this before," Rosenblum said. "She's trying to bridge the conflict between the different ethnic groups, with an emphasis on teenagers to think differently - to go against the hyper-nationalism. She's showing them that it's just nonsense, that they all have a lot in common with other cultures."

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