Historical Understanding Activity
During the war, Yugoslavians of all backgrounds were exposed to a variety of messages encouraging people to support one side of the conflict or another. The following piece of an interview reflects the opinions of one Serbian Orthodox Christian priest about the conflict.
Document 5: A Statement from a Serbian Orthodox priest
After blessing Serbian soldiers before they entered combat against the Muslim population in Bosnia- Herzegovina, Father Voyislav Charkich made the following statement to a filmmaker (through an interpreter):
“I went into the war voluntarily, as a priest and as a man, because the Orthodox Church and the Serbian nation were in jeopardy. If we did not enter this war, within 10 years we would no longer be living on these lands... We should all live with our own people. It is better for us to separate now, following this bloody war, so that my grandsons won’t have to pick up a rifle, like I did. This is the last opportunity for accounts to be settled."
6. Here are some ways to interpret the meaning of this document. Please read each one first and then rate how good you think it is.
(You may check the same rating more than once)
Very Bad
Bad
Good
Very Good
a. The priest justifies joining the war to protect the Serbian people, who he thought were at risk of disappearing and losing their cultural homeland.
b. This is only the perspective of one Serbian priest, but it suggests how authority figures might have used religion for political purposes.
c. This document only gives us the biased picture of one Serbian Priest, so we can’t draw any conclusions from it.
7. Which interpretation do you think is best (please check one)?
A
B
C