“The bridge needs its bodies” An old saying said by those who have been around the bridge on the River Drina long enough. Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge is its official name and it is the only way for this small town Višegrad to remain connected across this wide river. I was in town right at the beginning of spring, which is when the River Drina starts to swell and rage from the spring water rushing down the mountainside. I arrived early in the morning, only to be greeted by a torrential downpour that seemed to only increase the intensity of the river as I crossed the bridge.

The bridge has seen its fair share of bloodshed as of recent there were thousands of Bosniak Muslims who met their end atop this bridge due to the civil unrest that followed the fall of Yugoslavia. The bodies were pushed over the edge of the bridge, as the local militias felt the bodies weren’t dignified enough to be buried. The horror stories of refugee camps downriver pulling out bodies and about a child who has the misfortune of pulling out the body of his own mother. It is after hearing chilling stories like these, you can start to feel the echoes of the past when standing atop this bridge.

The stoic and bold pattern, one can’t but appreciate the simplicity that comes with this bridge standing silently over the River Drina. If there were a piece of architecture that one could blame for human cruelty, perhaps it would be this one. “The bridge needs its bodies” is something you understand better when you start walking off of the bridge. I just did not wish for mine to be one of them. I confess that the entire town is a beautiful sight to see, nestled away in mountains in Eastern Bosnia, it is a hidden gem from much of the world. Shame its inhabitants are all part of a generation filled with cold-blooded, murdering racists.