TEHRAN – An exhibition of photos capturing the tragic events of the killing of European Muslims during the Bosnian War is set to open to the public in Iran Photographers House in Tehran on Wednesday.

The photos are from a collection by French photographer Gilles Peress, a renowned photographer who has collaborated extensively with The New Yorker, and captured these images while in Bosnia between March and September of 1993

The exhibit, titled "Recalling a Tragedy," captures the haunting experiences of Peres, who spent three months in Bosnia during the war. Through his lens, Peres depicts the heart-wrenching realities of life in Tuzla, Mostar, Sarajevo, and Central Bosnia - candidly showcasing images of refugees, the wounded, and the deceased Bosnian Muslims left behind.

The exhibit will be running until August 11.

The Bosnian War, which took place from 1992 to 1995, was a war with strong ethnic roots that occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a former republic of Yugoslavia whose population is made up of Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Serbs, and Croats. 

The Bosnian genocide took place during the war, specifically during the Srebrenica offensive. This offensive started on July 6, 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces began advancing from the south, setting fire to Bosnian homes as they went. Amid chaos and terror, thousands of civilians fled Srebrenica for the nearby village of Potocari, where a contingent of about 200 Dutch peacekeepers was stationed. 

Some of the Dutch surrendered, while others withdrew; none fired on the advancing Bosnian Serb forces. On July 11, Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic strolled through Srebrenica and, in a statement recorded on film by a Serb journalist, said, “We give this town to the Serb nation… the time has come to take revenge on the Muslims.”

ABU/