Germany may revoke award to Israeli Holocaust historian for denying 'genocide' in Srebrenica
The award of the German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier Award to Israeli academic Gideon Greif has been called into question after former High Representative for BiH Christian Schwarz Schilling said he was “outraged by the decision.”
This was reported by Politika, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Nerma Buchan, Schwarz Schilling's chief of staff, confirmed that the announced presentation of the order to the historian Greif, which was announced on November 10 in Tel Aviv, was postponed after Schilling's letter. He confirmed that Schwarz-Schilling sent a message to the German President yesterday, despite the fact that the proposal to award Greif this award was received by the presidential administration in June of this year.
“They think that this proposal came before the report of the Commission (the Greif-led Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the Suffering of All Nations in the Srebrenica Area from 1992 to 1995, which concluded that there was no genocide in Srebrenica - ed.) came out and that, given the new circumstances, they will not only cancel the date, but also the award ceremony itself. In the meantime, they asked us for all the information they had about Mr. Gideon and his activities here in Bosnia, so that they would have a better idea so that they could make a decision whether to give him this medal at all,” Buchan said.
Late last month, the administration of German President Steinmeier announced that Israeli historian Gideon Greif would be awarded the Order for Special Merit.
“The Federal President appointed Greif laureate of the Order of the Cross for special services of the Federal Republic of Germany. Currently, preparations are underway to organize the award ceremony, which will take place in Tel Aviv,” the administration’s message said.
Let us recall that earlier the chairman of the Independent International Commission for the Study of the Suffering of All Nations in the Srebrenica region in 1992-1995, Gideon Greif, presented a 1200-page report, on which the world's leading experts worked.
According to the scientist, the commission came to two main conclusions: one concerns the definition of genocide, and the other concerns the number of victims.
“I am a Jew, and I know what genocide is. I belong to an ancient people who were subjected to genocide, the greatest genocide in human history. My people do not need to explain what genocide is. What happened in Srebrenica was not genocide, it cannot be called genocide, if someone uses this term, it should be erased from history. And this is important because the charges of genocide are very serious,” Greif said.
The Republican Center for the Study of War, War Crimes, and Missing Persons, established by the Serbian entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina – the Republic of Sebastian – has released the text of its report.
Germany may revoke award to Israeli Holocaust historian for denying Srebrenica genocide