by Lauren Dean

History has a way of repeating itself. Americans mass-murdered Indians during the 18th and 19th centuries, much like Hitler slaughtered nearly six million Jews during the Holocaust. These instances of mass murder, where man has no regard for life, were repeated during the Bosnian conflict.

The conflict that plagued Bosnia for most of the 1990s is long and complicated. Throughout this conflict, Bosnian Muslims, also known as Ethnic Albanians, were targeted for "ethnic cleansing" by Serbian forces.

According to the History Place, the heart of this conflict began in 1992, when the European Community and the U.S. chose to recognize Bosnia as an independent nation.

The country was created by the breakup of Yugoslavia. Slobodan Milosevic was the ruthless leader of Yugoslavia. He was outraged by this declaration of independence, and he sent forces to attack the capital city of Sarajevo.

Milosevic's Serbian forces quickly overpowered the Bosnian Muslims. They engaged in Nazi-like practices, such as mass shootings, forced repopulation of towns and the confinement of men and boys in concentration camps.

In 1993, the crimes grew worse. NATO forces became involved at this point, but they were unable to contain the Serbs. In one instance, U.N. peacekeepers were unable to intervene when the Serbs systematically murdered nearly 8,000 Bosnian men and boys. Additionally, the Serbs continued to rape Muslim females.

There was a brief period of peace for a few years, but the Serbs began security crackdowns again in 1998, according to the United States Information Agency Kosovo Atrocities Report.

Again, they initiated a campaign of forced repopulation. A majority of the ethnic Albanian population was forced from their homes.
Serb forces looted homes and businesses, and they robbed Albanian refugees, according to the History Place.

Disturbingly, Serbians used Albanians to escort Serb military convoys, as a sort of human shield, according to the Kosovo Atrocities Report.

Refugees also reported that Serbs were separating "military-aged" Albanians from the population, as the rest of the Albanians were forced to move.

In addition, the Serbs engaged in mass executions. As they roamed from town to town, they would randomly kill ethnic Albanians. In one instance, Serb forces allegedly locked an entire family into a house and burned them alive.

Rape against Muslim women was also common. The women would be separated from their families and sent to army camps, where Serbian soldiers would rape them repeatedly, according to the Kosovo Atrocities Report.

It is hard to imagine how one man's insanity and need for power could lead people into committing horrific acts against fellow humans. But like Hitler, Milosevic wanted a country of pure Serbians and no minorities.