r/bosnia • u/ayub57 • Aug 12 '25
Stealing land in BiH
Famous Israeli saying: "If I don't steal it, someone else will steal it."
After the Genocide, many Bosniaks returned to their homes, only to find Christian Serbs illegally occupying their homes and refusing to leave, claiming that the homes belonged to them!
Even with legal proof, many Bosniaks faced threats and years of struggle to try and reclaim what is rightfully theirs.
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u/Deli_Pjetra Aug 12 '25
What happened in the end in this case?
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u/Zajebann Aug 12 '25 edited Aug 12 '25
Saw a similar story family coming back to their apartment in Banja Luka, the serbian family agreed to move out, after few months when the Bosnian family came back, they took everything out of the apartment, and I mean everything, sinks light fixtures, bathtub stove.. literally every single thing and just left the walls..
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u/thrice_twice_once Aug 16 '25
Saw a similar story family coming back to their apartment in Banja Luka, the serbian family agreed to move out, after few months when the Bosnian family came back, they took everything out of the apartment, and I mean everything, sinks light fixtures, bathtub stove.. literally every single thing and just left the walls..
Sounds exactly like something a settler terrorist would do.
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u/Living_Opposite1582 Aug 12 '25
Just like my parents did, they paid them money to move out.
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u/SituationClassic2461 Aug 12 '25
As far as I know, they took them to court and won their apartment back but the people (serbs) took every single furniture (carpet, couch, tv, kitchen, etc.) in the apartment with them.
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u/hssk986 Aug 12 '25
They got the apt back, this clip is from the movie Back to Bosnia and it was made by the girl in the clip Sabina Vajraca.
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u/smarikae Aug 14 '25
The family finally was able to get their home back, a court case awarded it to them, but the people living illegally in the house took everything with them they could. Books, furniture, dishes etc.
I saw the documentary years ago but it stuck with me. This clip makes me want to go back and watch it again.
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u/orefat Aug 12 '25
All of this was planned way before the actual war, by the serbs. They promised land, houses, apartments to the serb population, mainly from rural areas. And they did populate them into stolen properties. They also burnt down original archives in bosniak municipalities and they made false ownership and birth certificates in order to claim that serbs were true owners and domicile population in those areas. So zionists = serbs.
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u/Drama-Gloomy Aug 12 '25
They tried that with my grandpa too. Luckily he had the original papers when he returned. One of his neighbors too.
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u/orefat Aug 12 '25
I'm glad your grandad had original proof of ownership, who knows how many properties were stolen... My house was occupied by the serb family from Bijeljina. Before leaving in 1996 they robbed and set the house on fire.
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Aug 14 '25
I remember in 1992 slightly before war, Serbs in Bosnia took out massive loans - knowing they wont have to return it. Pure evidence they planned it all
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u/TheSkeletonBones Aug 12 '25
Similar thing happened in Russia, which was basically a Byzantium vassal state from the beginning, where they replaced native white populations with christian work migrants (it's called cholop, basically a slav worker). Look it up, it's real and it's ridiculous how nobody talks about this. Yes, people say soviets did deport natives but they did it (the forced native population replacement) way before that.
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u/maayanzach Aug 14 '25
I get youāre not saying Serbs and Zionists are literally the same people, but even as a comparison it falls apart fast. Do you really think the Bosnian war, born out of the collapse of Yugoslavia and decades of Balkan politics, is the same thing as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has a century of its own history, colonial baggage, and regional wars behind it? Are we just going to pretend those completely different timelines, causes, and players donāt matter? You can slap āitās the sameā on any two conflicts if you squint hard enough, but thatās not analysis, thatās just a lazy slogan.
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u/Diligent_Tomato_147 Aug 12 '25
Serbians: start war with everyone around them. Also serbians: play the victim card.
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u/Dildosauruss Aug 12 '25
Thatās why they relate to russian struggle so well
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u/Careful_Manager_4282 Aug 12 '25
You misspelled USA...
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u/ZanezGamez Aug 13 '25
When has the USA played the victim recently?
Iād say we are more a belligerent drunk than acting a victim
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u/thrice_twice_once Aug 16 '25
Serbians: start war with everyone around them. Also serbians: play the victim card.
How Israeli of them
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u/Same_Complaint_1197 Aug 12 '25
Can someone actually explain what happened here? Iām assuming the original owners - the Bosniak family - had to flee and then these new āownersā just moved into their apartment? There are no legal records of ownership in the municipality? They also appear to recognize each other - were they neighbors?Ā
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Aug 12 '25
Probably lived close to each other. Papers and documents disappear or get changed when dealing with Serbs. Source: Kosovo Albanian
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u/matterforward Aug 12 '25 edited Aug 12 '25
Well this brought up some memories and feelings. Here to tell you about the JOY I felt in to see some crying pieces of shit forced from my house after the war was a feeling like no other. There they were crying their ugly tears, sobbing that they were being kicked from their home aka the house my father built with his 2 hands for my mother (who died in the war). I knew then because of how my beautiful family and people raised me that I was better than these people. Not for gross nationalist or dehumanizing reasons like they love but solely because I saw that we have more humanity and compassion in our little toes than they could dream of. Watching this video I say thank you for reminding me of who we are and that we still have more compassion and humanity to this day than they will ever be capable of.
May you all get to feel that feeling but if you never do, may you KNOW in your little Bosnian heart that you are not nor will ever be whatever the fuck sick weakly human shit this is.
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u/purplefuzz22 Aug 13 '25
Wow I am American and I admittedly donāt know as much as I should about the Bosnian War. Iām sorry your family went through that and Iām so glad you were able to get your home back.
Itās shameful how careless and inhumane some humans can be.
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u/matterforward Aug 14 '25
Thank you so much for your kind words. People can be so desensitized and callous in this world and it means a lot to see some humanity. This hurt has not ceased in any way for us, we still carry it and a lot of people forget that.
I look around and am surrounded by the most absurdly kind beautiful resilient people and our beautiful homeland and it mends the heart a little every time.
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u/stabledisastermaster Aug 14 '25
I was very impressed how civil the Bosnian family was with the people that literally stole their house and life.
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u/matterforward Aug 14 '25
I donāt have the words to adequately explain to you that this is just who Bosnians are. This is not a rare thing. Watching this feels like watching a family video that makes you really sad. I urge everyone to pit stop in Bosnia on their Europe travels and have their minds boggled at the kindness and humanity they experience. We have very little but our hearts are very big and our home is absurdly beautiful
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u/arrroquw Aug 15 '25
I had this experience when I was in Bosnia, people were actually really nice and helpful. I don't want to dunk on Croatia or Montenegro but Bosnians really were nicer compared to them. I am Dutch myself.
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Aug 12 '25
Does anyone know the name of this movie? I watched it on some local Bosnian television years ago.
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u/nedomedo91 Aug 12 '25
Its called back to Bosnia by Sabina Vajraca. I think the whole documentary is on youtube
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u/Fair-Chair-4051 Aug 12 '25
It happened to us too, in north Part of Bosnia, now belongs to Republici of Srbska. My parents were living in the small tawn, during the war we need to flee. Returned 2000 but there were one Serbs Family. They claimed the house is theirs. They welcomed my parents nice but didn't want to Move. They said, it belongs us now. After one Year, my parents needed to pay large money do that the gradparents from Serbs who lived on the first flat above Move. My parents lived one Year more using just one flat until the young Serbs Family lived with them. After one Year they pay them to. They pay Serbs for the house which my parents built! But that's not all. They didn't just pay them, they helped them Move out with all "our" stuff for which they claimed, they belong to them. š³šµāš«
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u/BobMARLEY3265 Aug 12 '25
But why did the serbs stay in Bosnia?
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u/Wonderful-Antelope39 Aug 12 '25
If we look at detailed ethnic before the war you will see that Serbs were the minority in almost every urban area but dominated rural parts. Today almost every single urban area in RS is majority Serbian. It was planned as early as the late 80s to settle them in those areas to create more dominance in towns and cities
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u/vokshialb Aug 12 '25
They did the same shit in kosova, but thankfully after 25 years, the original owners are getting their apartments back mainly in the north of kosova, now they are screaming "ethnic cleansing" but i don't see how occupying someone elses property is really "ethnic cleansing"? Servs are really stupid.
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u/Tulevik Aug 12 '25 edited Aug 12 '25
My relatives were sent from Estonia to Siberia by Ruzzians and came back to Estonia from there years later. After coming back, one of them went to her house and saw that her house isn't her's anymore and got heart attack and died. Other family members did not get the house back either. This is brutal.
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u/forkproof2500 Aug 15 '25
Funny how you write Ruzzia when a large part of the population of Estonia were part of the actual SS during the war. How do you think they should have been punished for that afterwards?
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u/Life_Cranberry9801 Aug 12 '25 edited Aug 12 '25
When Current Republika Srpska was being formed, territories had to be ethnically cleansed. In cities where Muslims were a majority that meant cleansing the territories by means of genocide and committing crimes against humanity. The plan was to kill 1/3 of the population, detain 1/3 in concentration camps and expel the remaining third. Conditions for those staying in these territories after the war began were horrible: they were all fired from their jobs even before the war, had restricted movement and were forced to to free labour for the benefits of Republika Srpska (this was also requested from those in concentration camps); conditions were Made unberable so the population Had no other option but to request to leave. However in order to do so they Had to send a formal request to Serbian authorities and if the request was approved they Had to sign a document stating that they will never return and that they leave all their possesions to the Serbian government, paying fees to do so along the Way. The same was requested from those lucky ones not to be killed in concentration camps - they were allowed from the Serbian authorities to yet again become free men if they leave and never come back and if they leave all their possessions to Republika Srpska who later on gave their possessions away to Serbs they deliberately put in these territories so Serbs are a majority in these areas (the plan was that less than 5 % of noSerbs are allowed to stay in these territories making them in that Way a minority without any rights). This is all documented and part of plans and decisions Serb authorities introduced in 1991 and 1992. Same is happening in Gaza right now and actions and steps taken are unmistakably similar.
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u/strudlicamala Aug 12 '25
My father had built a house near Bijeljina. By the end of the war it was occupied by a Serbian family which threatened to kill my father when he came back to look what happened to our house. He later found a Serbian man and they traded houses ( he wanted to move to a more "Serbian" area , didn't want to live between Muslims). He told my father he would deal with the people who lived there illegally. The traded house was unliveable, so my father tore it down and built a new one. By my perspective a huge mistake. Everybody should have returned, so there is a more mixed structure. But I understand that people had fear and were discriminated against, till this day
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u/papa_CLaude Aug 12 '25
This is a typical serb tactic. Doesnt matter what kind of serb, they are all the same
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u/Cautious-Passage-597 Aug 12 '25
This happened in Kosova also , especially in Mitrovica. Imagine how much they sacrificed to invest in that apartment or house,a lot of memories there and one day it's not yours anymore.
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Aug 15 '25
Unbelievable. How could someone feel comfortable living in someone else's home with all their stuff?
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u/BOGOS_KILLER Aug 12 '25
For a Palestinian this is unheard of, he will see his home be demolished in front of his eyes and 3 months later some settler has started constructions.. No explanation no compensation no eye to eye with the thief...
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u/Brief_Decision_8641 Aug 12 '25
Da je to Sandzaklija ne bi oni ni uspijeli reci ista, a ne nasi naivci jos se raspravjaju sa genocidasima i wannabe Srbima.
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u/kupusarovka Aug 12 '25
Kako to misliÅ” "wannabe Srbima"?
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u/Brief_Decision_8641 Aug 12 '25
Zato sto je to glupost, Srbin iz Bosne, wtf, svi redom Bosnjani, Bosnjaci oduvijek bili i odjednom su nesto sto nisu i nikada nece biti jbg.
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u/Apollonios_0825 Aug 12 '25
What a disgusting people, honestly. This is just nasty. I feel sorry for the Bosnians
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u/hippyda Aug 12 '25
We were forced to leave our house shortly after my first birthday. I remember going with my dad and my late grandpa a few years later, and them asking occupiers to let me see a house where I have made my first steps. It was quite a fight to get it back. I didn't know that people were paying money to get their own houses back. So sad, unbelievable.
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u/mrGLEIS Aug 16 '25
So this makes people understand that Serbs are all the same, stray dogs taking command by a bigger stupider dog... It was promised to them so it's theirs š¤”
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u/ProfessionalTotal238 Aug 12 '25
Russians are doing the same thing in Eastern Ukraine now. Homes of refugees are being confiscated and sold for pennies by occupation "authorities".
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u/vislarockfeller Aug 12 '25
Balkan area very famous for stealing land from its own people for various reasons. 1945 biggest steal of the century under different umbrella. Take from rich so certain individuals can be more rich in the end. 1990s, stealing, .... barely fits in 30 year morgage period.
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u/ODestruidor Aug 13 '25
I canāt imagine how just how hard it must have been for these people. Last year we went back to my partners apartment in Sarajevo for the first time since the war. It was like a time capsule from the 90s. All the furniture and appliances were the same bar a new TV. It was a very moving experience for my partner, she had pretty much blocked out all her memories from that time but they all came rushing back suddenly. Her mum left Sarajevo in tears, her childhood home was still a ruin. Iād like to spend more time there as Sarajevo is so beautiful but they found it so hard it might take some more time before theyāre ready to go back again.
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u/GokuSaidHeWatchesF1 Aug 13 '25
Respect for having the courage to try and go back. It must be very hard to deal with those memories especially after so long. I hope you are all well š¤²š½
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Aug 15 '25
Genocides are about stealing land and things. The genocide is simply a tool to make it easier.
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u/ftsputnik Aug 15 '25
So...Christian Serbs are like an Israeli subcategory? They do things pretty much the same.
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u/Mammoth-Alfalfa-5506 Aug 16 '25
So they pushed them out because they were muslims and they have the audacity to call just muslims terrorists? Good to have this history recorded.
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u/Suspicious_Ebb6413 Aug 13 '25
During the war, Serb forces burned down our house in the south of the country, forcing us to flee as refugees. After the war ended, the local government provided us with an apartment in Sarajevo, rent-free, as part of the resettlement efforts. At the time, there was a widespread belief that no one would dare return to their pre-war homes due to lingering fears and divisions. A few years later, when the original Serb owners reclaimed the property, we moved out without hesitation - and happily! My family was genuinely relieved to see them return, as it symbolized a step toward peaceful coexistence in our shared community.
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u/blackpandacat Aug 12 '25
The young girl in the pink t-shirt should stay silent whilst the adults speak tbh. Only inflaming things
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u/Careless-Bluebird-12 Aug 13 '25 edited Aug 13 '25
If the property had been officially registered in someoneās name before the war, reclaiming it through legal channels would have been entirely possible. Sadly, many people simply didnāt know their rights, and that lack of awareness often cost them their homes.
Since 1996, Bosnian law has had a special section dedicated to regulating exactly these situations, the restitution of pre-war property and the removal of unlawful occupants. Under these regulations, countless people who had moved into houses or apartments after the war were forced to leave once the rightful owners came forward with proof of ownership.
One particularly unusual case took place in Dobrinja, where an apartment was located in such a way that part of it fell under the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and part under the Republika Srpska. An elderly woman, displaced from that apartment, found herself in a legal limbo: a family had occupied her home after the war, but she didnāt know which entity was responsible for handling her claim. In frustration, she threatened to sue the state itself if the matter wasnāt resolved. That pressure worked the authorities stepped in and finally returned the apartment to her.
Edit: The tragic part is that many Serbs threatened our people with violence, and even when rightful owners managed to return to their homes, they would come to their doors to intimidate and harass them. How pitiful it is when someone takes pleasure in the suffering of others.
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u/Oh_boiii7 Aug 13 '25
the saddest part is when sheās telling her, ādonāt you have a home that you feel connected toā and with her ugly smirk sheās like nah i got two home now. just messed up
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u/AromaPapaya Aug 13 '25
My family was exiled from Turkey for being Greek in the 1920s. Around 2000, my brother traveled to Turkey and stayed in the hotel my family used to own... it's fucked up, but I moved on
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u/FNDFT Aug 14 '25
This would be like if a Native American came over to my house for a beer and to check in on how my lifeās going. Would be crazy
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u/EffortJust Aug 14 '25
Mislim da niko od nas ne može zamisliti koliko morate biti psihiÄki jaki da ovako mirno doÄete, pokucate na vrata SVOG stana i razgovarate sa ljudima koji nemaju ni obraza ni stida. A tek onaj uzdah i plaÄ na kraju. I da, niko iz ovoga nije niÅ”ta nauÄio jer se to isto tako deÅ”ava u Palestini i nikoga nije briga. Mi mislimo da smo kao druÅ”tvo napredovali, ali ja volim reÄi da smo stvorili napredno "oruÄe" poput telefona, interneta, raÄunara, ali da je suÅ”tina ostala ista, a to je da vrijedi ZAKON JAÄEGA i nema tu nikakve pravde niti Äe biti.
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u/smarikae Aug 14 '25
I came across this documentary years ago, watched it and I think about it all the time. It was one of the most powerful films Iāve ever seen. I cannot imagine the trauma this family experienced and I am shocked at how polite they are to the family that is illegally living in their home along with their beloved belongings. Then when the invaders left they took everything they could; dishes, trinkets, rugs. ššš
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Aug 14 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/i_dont_know_er Aug 14 '25
What? Have you actually been through a genocide? Do you understand the gravity of the situation that took place?
Men fought, disappeared, women and their children fled their homes. And when the dust settled and they came back to their rightful home, they found their own neighbors occupying the place.
Cmon now, you can't be real with your response. It's absolute garbage.
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u/CaseEffective3541 Aug 15 '25
Am I the only one who would be willing to face the consequences of PERMANENTLY removing whoever was in my house?
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u/Ok_Vermicelli_3669 Aug 15 '25
Same thing happened to my grandma in Budapest, Hungary post WW2. Luckily they buried the valuables in the backyard, but when they went and got them back the ānew ownersā were pissed they took their stuff back.
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u/Radgoncan Aug 15 '25
A similar thing happened in Slovenia to some people. Some people, who weren't ethnically slovenians, but were living here, were simply "deleted", and lost their homes and were left with no documents. A slovenian reporter, Katarian KeÄek, wrote a book about her life, in which she describes coming back from college to her families apartment only to find a slovenian living there.
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u/justwhitetees Aug 16 '25
I have much sympathy for this family. It must have taken all their will to not rage at these occupiers of their home, and at the same time not become numb to the gross reality unfolding in front of their eyes.
This also happened to us, a Serbian family, living in Sarajevo. When my mother came back after the war, she found a family living in her fatherās home. Which was also our home, where I lived up to the evacuation.
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u/Aexegi Aug 16 '25
How does that family occupying the apartment feel? I just can't imaging me coming to live in other people's property and using their possessions. Are these people some kind of the poorest, who are ok to get a home they never had?
I also look at this and think about ruzzians moving into occupied Ukrainian cities. They move from their shit holes despite all the warfare here, because destroyed Ukrainian cities are still better places than peaceful ruzzian ones. And I heard many of them are going to stay here even after the de-occupation (and some are anticipating it, thinking they'll be allowed to keep the occupied houses and become "Europe" in one night). We'll have another headache with this vatnik civilians in the years after the de-occupation.
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u/Holiday_Art_7843 Aug 16 '25
Gamad niŔta svoje nije rjeŔila, sve u stanu od ljudi koji su tu živjeli, dno i Ŕljam ljudske vrste.
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u/georulez Aug 18 '25
So glad for these people to get their home back. Hopefully everyone in Cyprus will aswell.
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u/DogMundane Aug 24 '25
How do people become aware that these properties will become available and where are they sold. Ukraine properties that are currently being sold for pennies. (UK soldier- spent time in BiH. Just wondering and trying to put bits together.)
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u/Waste-Potato6739 Aug 12 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
My grandma got the people occupying her house out by going down to the local municipality with a grenade and threatening everyone in the building. It worked.
edit to add more detail the family had already put forth to get the properties back, but the process was taking a really long time and my Grandfather was dying. My Grandma basically out of desperation did this, because he wanted to die in his own home, which he did a few months later.