White Armband Day | Dan Bijelih Traka Saturday, June 4th, 2016 | 1pm-3pm Boston Common: Liberty Mall/Free Speech Zone ABOUT THE WHITE ARMBAND DAY: May 31st is the remembrance day of all the victims of genocide in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In May of 1992, armed Yugoslavian Army Forces and Serbian paramilitary groups released a command for all NON-Serbians to mark their households by hanging a white cloth from their windows, as well as, to wear a white armband if they were to leave their homes. This, in addition to other horrific human rights violations, marked the beginning of the concentration camps, mass rapes and murders, which resulted in the genocide against more than 95% of Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Bosnian Catholics (Croats) from Prijedor and surrounding areas. This was not the first time in history such a symbol has been used. However, today we are choosing to reframe the power it has. We honor the lives lost and those who survived, not only in Prijedor and all throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, but every corner of the world that has been affected by the long lasting tragic effects of genocide and mass atrocities. “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” Ellie Wiesel
