The Bosnian war ended 20 years ago, but the eastern town of Višegrad still struggles over its collective history. Local authorities wanted to demolish a house on Pionirska Street, where 70 Muslim civilians were burned alive. Protests put the decision on hold, but a permanent solution has yet to be found. On 14 June 1992, 70 Muslim civilians were taken by a group of armed Serbs to a house on Pionirska Street in the eastern Bosnian town of Višegrad. They were locked in the basement, where the carpet beneath their feet was set ablaze. At least 59 people were burned to death. A few days after the first fire, on 27 June 1992, in a house in Bikavac, Višegrad, arsonists lit another fire, which killed 60 civilians – again, all Bosnian Muslims. The house in Bikavac was destroyed, but on Pionirska Street the house of death, now a memorial to the victims, remains. It is one of the few memorials that exist for the Muslim civilians murdered by Serb forces in Višegrad. “In the all too long, sad and wretched history of man’s inhumanity to man, the Pionirska Street and Bikavac fires must rank high,” said presiding judge Patrick Robinson when delivering the first instance verdict for Milan Lukić and his cousin Sredoje Lukić, who were convicted of various crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). “There is a unique cruelty in expunging all traces of the individual victims, which must heighten the gravity ascribed to these crimes,” the judge stated. Milan Lukić was found guilty of persecutions, murder, extermination, cruel treatment and inhumane acts and was sentenced to life in prison. He was also found responsible for the murder of 59 Muslim women, children and elderly people in the house on Pionirska Street. Of Lukić, “Some people here think he is a hero, others think he is bad,” says a young Serb boy who lives close to Pionirska Street. His family moved to Višegrad at the beginning of the war, and his mother witnessed the fire from her house. “Lukić did it,” the boy says, while walking with us to the house. Recently restored and painted white, the memorial house shows a commemorative plaque honoring all those who died there. At the entrance to the basement were dried flowers that had been left to honor the victims. Local authorities want to demolish Pionirska House to construct a road, which would erase this memorial to the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place in Višegrad during the war. The house was scheduled for destruction in December 2013. Protests put the decision on hold. “The proposed expropriation and demolition of the house is brutally indicative of genocide denial in Višegrad,” says David Pettigrew, Professor of Philosophy and Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Southern Connecticut State University. “The local authorities are looking for an excuse to demolish the house in order erase the memory of the atrocities that were committed.” Professor Pettigrew first visited Višegrad in July 2010, when he was invited to accompany the Missing Persons Institute (MPI) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) during their exhumations along the banks Drina River. In 2010, work on the Bajina Basta hydroelectric dam had caused the river level to drop, so experts from the MPI and ICMP thought it was highly likely they would find the remains of victims who had been murdered on the Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad and thrown into the river. “Upon reaching the riverbank, we immediately found human bones,” the professor recalls. In March 2014, Professor Pettigrew visited the memorial house on Pionirska Street with activist Bakira Hasečić, who had participated in rebuilding the house to prevent its destruction in 2013. Police intimidated the activist and Mrs. Hasečić received a court order with a fine for her part in rebuilding the house. She believes the local authorities are using the house as a “political strategy”, and says, “It is a humiliation the victims are going through again.” While Pionirska House is in danger of being demolished, there exists a statue dedicated to Serb soldiers in the city center. “The statue in the middle of Višegrad that honors the perpetrators is just another example of genocide denial and psychological intimidation designed to re-write history and discourage refugees from returning to their former homes,” says Professor Pettigrew. He recently wrote to Samantha Power, the American Ambassador to the United Nations, to express concern about the Višegrad municipality’s plan to destroy Pionirska House. Of Višegrad Bakira Hasečić says, “It’s my hometown, but I feel it has been abandoned by the country.” During the war she witnessed terrible atrocities and was a victim of sexual violence.