Bowling Green’s Bosnian community will march in solidarity this weekend as it remembers the 21st anniversary of a Bosnian genocide that claimed more than 8,000 lives. 

Nermin Peimanovic, a local Bosnian man, lost both of his grandfathers to the Srebrenica genocide in 1995. He’s helping organize a march and memorial event from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Circus Square Park to make sure their deaths are not forgotten. Guest speakers at Western Kentucky University will also address the topic of surviving genocide at 6 p.m. Monday at the Kentucky Museum. 

Marchers will take one step for each of the genocide’s 8,372 victims. They were mostly men and boys who were separated from their families, systematically killed and thrown into mass graves by Serbian forces.

Chaos erupted after United Nations forces were overrun while protecting Srebrenica, a designated safe zone for Bosnians to escape Serbian forces. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has described the mass murder as the worst crime on European soil since World War II.

Peimanovic, 28, has made a life for himself here. Part of the event’s purpose is to show people how Bowling Green’s Bosnian community originally formed, he said. 

“I think (the) Bosnian community really appreciates Bowling Green and everything they did for us,” he said, adding the walk is to “keep reminding people what can happen if we turn our backs.” 

Adina Husic, 25, remembers writing poems and stories about the evacuation when she first started school. Now she plans to start studying for her master’s degree in business this fall at WKU. 

Husic, who was only available for comment through email, said her father was separated from her at the time of the genocide. She also remembers how helpless her old and fragile grandfather was when he couldn’t escape and was taken away and killed. 

She’s volunteering at the march this year. 

“I think it’s a beautiful thing what we here and all over the states are doing, and that’s remembering,” she said. “Twenty-one years later and we still speak of the horrific violence that took place and destroyed our homes, but most importantly 21 years later and we remember all the individuals that put their lives on stake to save ours.”

Adela Hasic, who works locally as a dentist’s assistant, left Bosnia in 1992 before the genocide began. That doesn’t mean she escaped it unscathed, however. Hasic lost her father, uncle and grandfather, but it wasn’t until 2007 that their remains were discovered in a mass grave. 

“In the beginning, we were just hoping that they were just missing,” she said. “It’s difficult. You really hope for the longest time that they were alive.”

Hasic said the genocide has touched every Bosnian here in some way. 

“To me it’s very personal because I lost people that were close to me, and I grew up without a father,” she said. 

Peimanovic, his brother and mother were in a safe place at the time, but his father had to survive the carnage and return to his family. 

Peimanovic said his father was the same age then as he is now. His father endured close calls and days without food and water that brought him to exhaustion and hallucinations. 

“If it was not for his neighbor, he would have never made it,” Peimanovic said. 

That same neighborly compassion has helped local Bosnians thrive in a country far from home, Peimanovic said. 

“If it was not for helping each other … I don’t think we would have such an established community that we have,” he said. 

— Follow reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @aaron_muddbgdn or visit bgdailynews.com.