What happened next is a lesson in failed deterrence and brutal agency. The Bosnian government commander in Gorazde, Colonel (later General) Mustafa Polutak, had no illusions. Unlike the commanders in Srebrenica who had struck a desperate deal with Mladić for the safety of civilians (a deal that was immediately broken), Polutak gave his men a stark order: No surrender. No evacuation. We fight to the last man, woman, and child.
Despite its "protected" status, the town was relentlessly shelled. Approximately 7,000 civilians were killed or wounded during the siege, including 548 children.
When the ceasefire finally held in October 1995, Gorazde was a skeleton. Nearly 70% of its buildings were destroyed. Over 2,500 of its defenders had been killed during the three-year siege. Thousands more died of starvation and disease.
Goražde, summer '95 – a masterclass in survival against all odds. gorazde 1995
The fall of Srebrenica sent a clear message to the defenders of Gorazde: The UN will not protect you. If you surrender, you will be killed. If you fight, you will die fighting.
By early 1995, Goražde’s situation reached a breaking point. Following the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995, where over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were massacred, international eyes turned to Goražde as the next likely target for "ethnic cleansing". Safe Area Gorazde S C The War In Eastern Bosnia 1
By September 1995, the front lines had moved dangerously close to the city center. Observers reported that the VRS was within striking distance of severing the town in two. Had they succeeded, a humanitarian disaster on the scale of Srebrenica was a distinct possibility. The Bosnian Serbs had demonstrated in Srebrenica that they had the intent and the organization to carry out mass killings and mass expuls What happened next is a lesson in failed
When Mladić ignored the ultimatum, believing (like in Srebrenica) that NATO would never strike, the rules changed.
🕊️ Remembering the defenders and civilians who endured 1,370 days of siege. 🇧🇦
: In the summer of 1995, as the BSA intensified attacks on eastern enclaves, Goražde faced imminent danger. Following the fall of Srebrenica, Bosnian Serb forces took British UN peacekeepers hostage to deter NATO airstrikes. No evacuation
Historians often ask: why was Srebrenica destroyed while Gorazde survived? The answers are uncomfortable but clear:
But Gorazde was not Srebrenica. When the Dayton Peace Accords were signed in November 1995, the map-makers faced a dilemma. Originally, the American negotiators (led by Richard Holbrooke) planned to give Gorazde to the Bosnian Serb entity (Republika Srpska) in exchange for territorial concessions elsewhere.