Thirty years ago, in a town most Americans had never heard of, one of the worst atrocities since the Holocaust unfolded. On April 6, the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum will help make sure the world doesn’t forget.
The Museum will host its annual Lazowski Memorial Lecture at 3 p.m., shining a light on the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina—an event many St. Louisans may not realize hits close to home.
More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered in Srebrenica over a few horrifying days. Today, St. Louis is home to the largest Bosnian community outside of Bosnia itself—many of whom carry the weight of this history.
This year’s lecture, presented in partnership with the Srebrenica Remembrance Coalition, will bring together voices that matter: survivors, scholars and community members who have lived through, studied and memorialized this genocide.
The panel will include Dr. David Pettigrew, professor of philosophy and Holocaust and genocide studies at Southern Connecticut State University; Hasan Hasanović, a survivor and head of oral history at the Srebrenica Memorial Center; and Elvir Ahmetovic, who also survived the Bosnian genocide.
Together, they’ll dive into what it means to survive, to remember and to heal—not just for those who lived through Srebrenica but for communities everywhere wrestling with hatred, trauma and memory.
“It’s essential that we not only remember but learn from the tragedy in Srebrenica,” said Myron Freedman, executive director of the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. “Our Museum is dedicated to bringing forward these vital conversations, bridging global histories and local communities, to build a future that rejects hatred and fosters resilience.”
The event is free and open to the public. Program leaders Janice Smith and Clint Zweifel are supporting this year’s lecture, along with Susan Feigenbaum.
If you go, expect an emotional, eye-opening conversation—and possibly a new understanding of how this history lives right here in St. Louis.
What: Lazowski Memorial Lecture: 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide
When: April 6 at 3 p.m.
Where: St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, 36 Millstone Campus Drive
Cost: Free admission
Details: Free parking available. Accessible seating, assistive listening devices and wheelchairs available upon request.
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