In the year 1566, the Ottoman Empire granted a permit to the wealthy Hrabren family to construct a Serbian Orthodox monastery over the ruins of an old Orthodox church.  It was the era of Queen Elizabeth I of England and the end of the reign of Ottoman Suleyman the Great.  For over four hundred years, the monastery at Zitomislici was a vibrant community in the south-eastern area of the modern borders of Bosnia-Herzegovina.  It was an artistic and historic center.  The beautiful site remained an active monastary until the modern era.  In July 1992, Croatian nationalists traveling from nearby Medjugorje murdered the current monks and razed the site to the ground, destroying not only its occupants but attempting to destroy the very memory of the site.

 
    The destruction of Zitomislici was one of many atrocities that occurred throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina in the middle of the 1990s.  Cultural sites were desecrated, in an attempt to erase the very memory of the cultural diversity that had existed throughout the history of the nation and region of Bosnia-Heregovina.  Despite the terrible loss of life and historical sites, the tragedies of Bosnia-Herzegovina have been almost entirely ignored by American and western European media and governments.  Characterized as ancient tribal rivalries, very little attention and even less help has been sent to the survivors of the recent genocidal conflict.

    This website seeks to educate people about one particular atrocity, the monastery at Zitomislici, and through education to encourage greater awareness of the tragedies that so recently occured in Bosnia-Herzegovina and what can be done to help the survivors rebuild their homes and their memories.