Description
Book SynopsisIn July 1995, the Army of the Serbian Republic killed some 8,000 Bosnian men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenicathe largest mass murder in Europe since World War II. Surviving the Bosnian Genocide is based on the testimonies of 60 female survivors of the massacre who were interviewed by Dutch historian Selma Leydesdorff. The women, many of whom still live in refugee camps, talk about their lives before the Bosnian war, the events of the massacre, and the ways they have tried to cope with their fate. Though fragmented by trauma, the women tell of life and survival under extreme conditions, while recalling a time before the war when Muslims, Croats, and Serbs lived together peaceably. By giving them a voice, this book looks beyond the rapes, murders, and atrocities of that dark time to show the agency of these women during and after the war and their fight to uncover the truth of what happened at Srebrenica and why.
Trade ReviewWith sensitivity and compassion, Leydesdorff . . . interviews about 50 female survivors of the Srebrenica massacre . . . in this valuable oral history. 6/21/2011
* Publishers Weekly *
Surviving the Bosnian Genocide provides a clear, concise analysis of conditions in Srebrenica and the genocidal massacre in Potocari. As an author, Leydesdorff manages to organize excerpts from dozens of interviewees in a manner that allows their words to carry the weight of the experience, while interjecting herself only to provide the necessary historical perspective to maintain its readability. Ultimately, this collection of experiences succeeds at placing the human toll of mass atrocities in the forefront of the historical discussion in a way that preserves the emotional scars such events leave in their wake.
* Oral History Review *
Leydesdorff's book focuses on the notorious selective massacre in July 1995 of 8,100 disarmed Bosnian Muslim men by Serb nationalist forces under the comand of General Ratko Mladic, in the area around the town of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia . . . The women speak of the shock, in the early days of the war, of seeing trusted Serb neighbors turn into rapists and murderers; of their own fathers, husbands, and sons forced to take up arms; of weeks spent living rough with their children in the forests to avoid slaughter; of hunger, homelssness, and virtual imprisonment in the enclave; and of the bitter moment of escape that was simultaneously the moment of loss, the last glimpse of a husband or son. They also spoke (reluctantly and elliptically) of rape and described surviving brutal attacks by Serb men. The memories of these victimized women are the 'little' sorrows of war, Leydesdorff says, seldom deemed worth listening to, neglected in the political histories.Jan. 2012
* Women's Review of Books *
A book of remarkable integrity that gives the victims voices, faces, families, and lives. . . . The author succeeds in creating an honest and sensitive picture from the jumble of stories, emotions, and reminiscences. . . . A work of great social relevance.
* Internationale Spectator *
Surviving the Bosnian Genocide . . . meaningfully adds to an endless bibliography on the war, cultural trauma, and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina through a gendered perspective. To this end, both cultural literacy and sensitivity interpenetrate this study admirably.
* Human Rights Quarterly *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
On the Publication of the English Edition
List of abbreviations
Preface: What Happened Before
Sabaheta's Story
1. Farewell: The Desolation, the Women
2. An Orphaned World: Life before the War
3. War is Coming
4. Living on the Run, Living in Danger
5. A Human Shooting Gallery—Srebrenica 1992-1995
6. Violence
7. Departure without Arrival
Notes
Index
