Shoah educator’s extremism warning as Radovan Karadzic to be imprisoned in UK
Head of Holocaust Memorial Day Trust says that thanks to the internet, hateful views which were once viewed as fringe can be normalised
A Holocaust educator sounded a warning over “extreme” views being normalised on the internet, as one of the masterminds of Bosnian genocide is set to be imprisoned on UK soil.
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will almost certainly die behind bars after his life sentence without parole for genocide and crimes against humanity was transferred to a UK jail from the UN’s detention centre in the Netherlands earlier this year.
Karadzic, now 76, and his military commander General Ratko Mladic, were responsible for the deaths of 8,372 mostly Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995.
It was regarded as one of the worst examples of ethnic cleansing committed in Europe since the Holocaust during the Second World War, though the pair were only brought to justice decades later.
Bosnian genocide survivors now living in the UK took comfort from his sentence. Smajo Beso, who fled to Newcastle as a nine-year-old boy from his war-affected town of Stolac, around 75 miles south of Sarajevo, said Karadzic’s incarceration gave him and his fellow survivors “reassurance” that justice would be served.
Speaking during this week’s commemorations of the Bosnia genocide, the 36-year-old architect told the PA news agency: “I have faith in the UK justice system.
“For me, that gives me confidence that things will be done in the right way, but I think it’s only through education, strong action, genocide denial laws and pressure on governments that we can bring meaningful change.
“Across Europe, and this shift to the right, I do worry what the future holds for all of us.”
Troubling echoes of the Bosnian genocide have been found across the globe in the last decade, with white supremacists responsible for mass killings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and in Norway said to have been inspired by Karadzic’s brand of Serb ultra-nationalism.
And many Bosnian Serbs still celebrate Karadzic and Mladic as heroes.
Mr Beso said: “Justice has been incredibly slow, which has allowed genocide denial and this hateful ideology to continue to flourish and become an inspiration for white supremacists across the world.
“The foot soldiers that committed these awful atrocities are still living in the same communities. When I go home, I still see people who committed atrocities against my family.
“This very slow justice has allowed this to flourish.”
Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust which also remembers international atrocities such as Darfur, Rwanda and Bosnia, said the internet allows “extreme” views to become normalised.
She said: “Really extreme supremacist ideology which was once regarded on the fringes of acceptable thought … people are now meeting, sharing those ideas, normalising them, and bringing people in much easier than before social media was so prevalent.
“People can get drawn along a pathway very, very quickly.”
She said it is important for people to feel comfortable challenging and disrupting conversations of a supremacist nature, and to report concerns to police or monitoring organisations.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
