Srebrenica Genocide Have you ever witnessed the killing of thousands of your fellow countrymen? The Bosnian people witnessed the massacre of over 8,000 men and boys due to racial cleansing. The Srebrenica genocide was a horrible massacre in Bosnia, this is a significant event in Europe because it was the second largest massacre after the Holocaust. What led to the massacre, what would make someone want to kill many of the innocent European men and boys? The purpose of the genocide was supposed to be racial cleansing, a man named General Miadic told his soldiers: “Our plans cannot be carried out without committing genocide.” Before the genocide occurred On January 7, Bosnian Muslim forces attacked a Serb-controlled village and killed the people of the village. During April the Naser Oric was withdrawn from the enclave by Muslim leaders, leaving the Muslims demoralized and without equipment. Then in May 350 Dutch peacekeepers were held hostage by Serbs in the capital Sarajevo in response to NATO airstrikes, which shocked the United Nations. Eventually General Janvier, who was the UN commander in Bosnia, confronted the UN headquarters in New York, urging the Security Council to protect the safe area by granting them a massive troop surge, or taking the peacekeepers away, so they can conduct airstrikes, Janvier was told to press on. These events led to what was the second largest massacre in European history. On July 11 at 11:00 am more than 20,000 refugees: women, children, elderly and sick flee to the Dutch base 3 miles away. Later that afternoon 2 Dutch F-16 planes drop 2 bombs on Serbian positions, the Serbs then threaten to kill the Dutch hostages and... middle of paper... Slav Krstic, who played an important role in the genocide was found guilty of genocide and sentenced to 46 years in prison. Mladic was arrested in 2011. So far 38 officers and generals have been convicted for participating in this terrible crime. A memorial was created for all the victims of the genocide. It is made up of rows and rows of unidentified and identified bodies. Many people will never have the answer to who killed their sons, daughters and loved ones there, but they know they can honor the lives of the victims. The Srebrenica genocide was a horrible massacre in Bosnia, this is a significant event in Europe because it was the second largest massacre after the Holocaust. What would you do if you witnessed a crime like this, would you stand up and speak out or would you keep quiet and hide in the shadows, as many of Bosnia's neighboring countries have done?.