Ziyah Gafić: Everyday objects, tragic histories

Prevoditelj: Senzos Osijek Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

These are simple objects:

Ovo su obični predmeti:

clocks, keys, combs, glasses.

satovi, ključevi, češljevi, naočale.

They are the things the victims of genocide in Bosnia

To su stvari koje su žrtve genocida u Bosni

carried with them on their final journey.

nosile sa sobom na svoje zadnje putovanje.

We are all familiar with these mundane,

Svima su nam poznati ti obični,

everyday objects.

svakodnevni predmeti.

The fact that some of the victims carried

Činjenica da su neke od žrtava nosile

personal items such as toothpaste and a toothbrush

osobne predmete kao što su pasta i četkica za zube

is a clear sign they had no idea

je očit znak da nisu imali pojma

what was about to happen to them.

što će im se dogoditi.

Usually, they were told that they were going to be

Obično bi im rekli da će ih

exchanged for prisoners of war.

razmijeniti za ratne zarobljenike.

These items have been recovered

Ovi predmeti su nađeni

from numerous mass graves across my homeland,

u mnogim masovnim grobnicama diljem moje domovine,

and as we speak, forensics are exhuming bodies

i u ovom trenutku, forenzičari ekshumiraju tijela

from newly discovered mass graves,

iz novootkrivene masovne grobnice,

20 years after the war.

20 godina poslije rata.

And it is quite possibly the largest ever discovered.

Vrlo je vjerojatno da je to najveća dosad otkrivena.

During the four years of conflict

Tijekom četiri godine sukoba

that devastated the Bosnian nation in the early '90s,

koji su razarali bosansku naciju u ranim devedesetima,

approximately 30,000 citizens, mainly civilians,

oko 30,000 građana, uglavnom civila,

went missing, presumed killed,

je nestalo, pretpostavlja se da je ubijeno,

and another 100,000 were killed

i jos 100,000 je ubijeno

during combat operations.

tijekom borbenih akcija.

Most of them were killed

Većina ih je ubijena

either in the early days of the war

ili na početku rata

or towards the end of the hostilities,

ili već pred kraj sukoba,

when U.N. safe zones like Srebrenica

kad su U.N.-ove sigurne zone poput Srebrenice

fell into the hands of the Serb army.

pale u ruke Srpske vojske.

The international criminal tribunal

Međunarodni sud

delivered a number of sentences

je donio nekoliko presuda

for crimes against humanity and genocide.

za zločine protiv humanosti i genocid.

Genocide is a systematic and deliberate

Genocid je sustavno i namjerno

destruction of a racial, political, religious

uništavanje rasne, političke, vjerske

or ethnic group.

ili etničke skupine.

As much as genocide is about killing.

Kolko se u genocidu radi o ubijanju

It is also about destroying their property,

tolko se radi i o uništavanju njihove imovine,

their cultural heritage,

njihove kulturne baštine,

and ultimately the very notion that they ever existed.

i na kraju, same misli da su ikad postojali.

Genocide is not only about the killing;

U genocidu se ne radi samo o ubijanju;

it is about the denied identity.

radi se o negiranju identiteta.

There are always traces —

Uvijek postoje dokazi –

no such thing as a perfect crime.

ne postoji savršen zločin.

There are always remnants of the perished ones

Uvijek postoje ostaci stradalih

that are more durable than their fragile bodies

koji su izdržljiviji od njihovih krhkih tijela,

and our selective and fading memory of them.

i našeg selektivnog i blijedećeg sjećanja na njih.

These items are recovered

Ovi predmeti su nađeni

from numerous mass graves,

u mnogim masovnim grobnicama,

and the main goal of this collection of the items

i glavni cilj ove kolekcije predmeta

is a unique process

je jedinstven proces

of identifying those who disappeared in the killings,

identifikacije onih koji su nestali

the first act of genocide on European soil

u prvom genocidu na europskom tlu

since the Holocaust.

nakon Holokausta.

Not a single body should remain undiscovered

Ni jedno tijelo ne bi trebalo ostati neotkriveno

or unidentified.

niti neidentificirano.

Once recovered,

Jednom nađeni,

these items that the victims carried with them

ti predmeti koje su žrtve nosile sa sobom

on their way to execution

na smaknuće

are carefully cleaned, analyzed,

se pažljivo čiste, analiziraju,

catalogued and stored.

kategoriziraju i spremaju.

Thousands of artifacts are packed in white plastic bags

Tisuće artefakata je spakirano u bijele plastične vrećice

just like the ones you see on CSI.

poput onih koje vidite na CSI-u.

These objects are used as a forensic tool

Ti predmeti se koriste kao forenzički alat

in visual identification of the victims,

u vizualnoj identifikaciji žrtava,

but they are also used as very valuable forensic evidence

ali su također vrlo vrijedni forenzički dokazi

in the ongoing war crimes trials.

u suđenjima za ratne zločine.

Survivors are occasionally called

Ponekad se pozovu preživjeli

to try to identify these items physically,

da probaju fizički identificirati ove predmete,

but physical browsing is extremely difficult,

ali fizičko pregledavanje je jako teško,

an ineffective and painful process.

to je neučinkovit i bolan proces.

Once the forensics and doctors and lawyers

Jednom kad forenzičari i doktori i odvjetnici

are done with these objects,

završe s tim predmetima,

they become orphans of the narrative.

oni postanu siročad ove priče.

Many of them get destroyed, believe it or not,

Mnogo ih se uništi, vjerovali ili ne,

or they get simply shelved,

ili ih jednostavno gurnu na police,

out of sight and out of mind.

daleko od očiju i od srca.

I decided a few years ago

Prije par godina sam odlučio

to photograph every single exhumed item

fotografirati baš svaki ekshumirani predmet

in order to create a visual archive

kako bi stvorio vizualnu arhivu

that survivors could easily browse.

koju bi preživjeli lako mogli pretraživati.

As a storyteller, I like to give back to the community.

Kao pripovijedač, volim vraćati zajednici.

I like to move beyond raising awareness.

Volim raditi više od samog dizanja svijesti.

And in this case, someone may

I u ovom slučaju, netko bi mogao

recognize these items

prepoznati ove stvari

or at least their photographs will remain

ili bar njihove fotografije koje ostaju

as a permanent, unbiased and accurate reminder

kao trajni, nepristrani i točni podsjetnici

of what happened.

onoga što se dogodilo.

Photography is about empathy,

U fotografiji se radi o empatiji,

and the familiarity of these items guarantee empathy.

a poznavanje ovih predmeta garantira empatiju.

In this case, I am merely a tool,

U ovom slučaju, ja sam samo alat,

a forensic, if you like,

forenzičar, ako želite,

and the result is a photography that is as close

a rezultat je fotografija koja je najbliže

as possible of being a document.

moguće opciji da bude dokument.

Once all the missing persons are identified,

Jednom kad sve nestale osobe budu identificirane,

only decaying bodies in their graves

samo će raspadajuća tijela u grobovima

and these everyday items will remain.

i ovi svakodnevni predmeti ostati.

In all their simplicity,

U svoj svojoj jednostavnosti,

these items are the last testament

ovi su predmeti posljednji zavjet

to the identity of the victims,

identitetu žrtava,

the last permanent reminder

zadnji preostali podsjetnik

that these people ever existed.

da su ti ljudi ikad postojali.

Thank you very much.

Hvala puno.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)