Dear Google,

If somebody decided to turn Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps into a wellness retreat perfect for a “relaxing weekend getaway,” would you let them promote this on Google? Would you allow it to appear on Google maps as a tourist facility?

Unfortunately, this is not a hypothetical situation; this is a reality that is occurring right now at Vilina Vlas in Visegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Vilina Vlas is a “hotel” that served as one of the main detention facilities during the Visegrad massacres in the Bosnian War. Bosniak prisoners were beaten, tortured, and murdered while hundreds of women were raped and sexually assaulted in the very rooms of this horror hotel. 

Not only is Vilina Vlas being promoted as a rehabilitation spa resort in BiH by the tourism agency of the Bosnian entity of the Republika Srpska, it is also being promoted on Google. A quick Google search will yield great reviews and first-hand accounts of those saying it’s a “very nice and peaceful place in nature”. Since the Bosnian war in the 90s not much has changed in the hotel and guests can choose to sleep in one of the many rooms or 160 available beds; the same rooms and beds where women were raped and men were tortured, beaten and killed as the furniture remains the same. 

Sadly, the not so distant history of this hotel is trying to be systematically erased in the most inhumane methods possible with backing from the Republika Srpska government trying to promote it as a wellness spa and resort. Though we cannot stop mentally deranged people from knowingly visiting and staying at this disgusting building, we can stop the active promotion of it.

We have actively been working within our local and diaspora communities to spread the word of the hotel’s past by posting reviews mentioning the same. We want to warn unsuspecting tourists of the truth, but we need your help. Remove this atrocity from your search, remove them from all your maps and help us in our attempt to provide dignity and justice to the women and men who's innocence was stolen. Help us remember them.

Your's truly,
We will not be forgotten