Music, Poems and Prayers

Memorial events can be enhanced with the reading of suitable prayers and poems. Music can also play an important part in procedings. Here you will find examples that can be used in your memorial event.

Srebrenica

Maestro Emir Nuhanović has composed a beautiful piece of music for us to commemorate the Srebrenica genocide.

Emir is renowned as an award-winning solo clarinettist and conductor, appearing in concert across Europe and North America. His awards also recognise his exceptional contribution to the music culture of Bosnia-Herzegovina. They include the International Peace Centre’s ‘Freedom Prize’ for his work promoting human rights and freedom in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Europe and the world.

Director of the Sarajevo Philharmonic and artistic director of the World Oriental Music Festival, Emir is a professor at the Teacher-Training Academy in Mostar and clarinet professor at the Sarajevo Academy.

Song for Srebrenica

A haunting and evocative piece of music composed especially for Remembering Srebrenica by international music star Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens). Yusuf describes it as “a haunting melody in my mind that seemed to me to call out the name, ‘Srebrenica’ – though I left it unsaid.”

Srebrenica: A Cry from the Grave The Trail of Tears

Musician John Guy Storer wrote ‘Srebrenica: A Cry from the Grave The Trail of Tears’  as the harrowing images of the atrocities were unfolding and transmitted through the media at the time of conflict in July 1995.

Jewish prayer for Srebrenica

Mehri Niknam MBE, Executive Director of the Joseph Interfaith Foundation, has written a beautiful  Jewish prayer for the victims of the Srebrenica genocide.

The Srebrenica Prayer

This prayer is inscribed in stone at the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Complex.

Bahá’í Prayer

Suggested Bahá’í prayer which may be used at a memorial service.

Sikh Scripture

Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scriptures), p.1103. Verses by Bhagat Kabir.

Christian prayer

A Christian Prayer for Srebrenica written by Reverend Julian Francis.

Muslim prayer

This prayer was read out at the 2013 Srebrenica Memorial Day event.

Khutba for Srebrenica

A khutba written by Imam Qari Muhammad Asim,  Makkah Masjid Leeds.

Tormented Hearts

A beautiful poem by Misba Sheikh that conveys the sadness and horror of Srebrenica.

Shadows

Misba Sheikh’s haunting poem about the aftermath of genocide.

Genocide

A haunting poem by Isabel Shaw portraying the horror of Srebrenica.

11th of July

A sorrowful poem by Aisha Mirza reflecting on lives and opportunity lost at Srebrenica.

Poem by Catherine Major

Reflections on the heartbreak suffered by a mother losing her son in the genocide.

Poem by Jenny Johnson

A poem entitled Remembering Srebrenica on what lay beneath the genocide.

The Executioner – a poem by Joe Peacock

How could anyone shoot innocent people and sleep at night?