> It has been a while since the Croats and Serbians have decided that they do not speak the same language and this is accurately depicted above but the Bosnians and Montenegrin also decided that they have their own language.
So much animosity, I did not always quite comprehend why until I met a Kosovar in London during the Championships in 2018 and revealed to them my astonishment over Novak Djokovic's comeback, and they said 'I'd rather kill a Serb' [0] (than be in awe of their accomplishments). I could almost feel their hatered but I implored them to forgive and move on. That interaction prompted me to look up the history on WW2 in the Balkans [1] and the subsequent Yusgoslav Wars and I could see why [2][3] this tragedy of epic proportions among a group only separated by differences in religion has come to pass: It boiled down to how a few were able to sway the many [4][5][6].
I wish there would be an easy solution to these 'seeds of evil'. Its easy for an outsider like you and me to say 'just forgive', because its the best and most sane thing to do. Unfortunately many human beings don't work like that, emotions often run the show.
And who knows, maybe it I experienced what they did, maybe I would be the same, or worse. I mean, if somebody raped and murdered my family in front of my eyes and laughed while doing it, forgiveness would be probably impossible for me.
The only advice that usually works - wait for few generations. Those scarred will take their wounds to the grave, and young usually don't want to carry too much of the burden of previous generations, which is good.
> It has been a while since the Croats and Serbians have decided that they do not speak the same language and this is accurately depicted above but the Bosnians and Montenegrin also decided that they have their own language.
So much animosity, I did not always quite comprehend why until I met a Kosovar in London during the Championships in 2018 and revealed to them my astonishment over Novak Djokovic's comeback, and they said 'I'd rather kill a Serb' [0] (than be in awe of their accomplishments). I could almost feel their hatered but I implored them to forgive and move on. That interaction prompted me to look up the history on WW2 in the Balkans [1] and the subsequent Yusgoslav Wars and I could see why [2][3] this tragedy of epic proportions among a group only separated by differences in religion has come to pass: It boiled down to how a few were able to sway the many [4][5][6].
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Serbian_sentiment
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ustashe
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Horseshoe
[4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18433883
[5] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1570850
[6] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14190764#14192475