Surviving the Bosnian Genocide: The Women of Srebrenica Speak (review)

The Holocaust traditionally serves as the entry point for anyone doing research on survivor testimonies. The experiences of those who survived Nazi persecution have been collected, archived, and widely written about by scholars from a variety of disciplines. While this has created a framework for the discussion of oral histories and genocide, the number of texts examining non-Holocaust– related atrocities is still fairly small. Surviving the Bosnian Genocide: The Women of Srebrenica Speak addresses the slaughter of over 8,000 Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) at Srebrenica, in the former Yugoslavia, on July 11, 1995, through the voices of its female survivors. Selma Leydesdorff, a professor at the University of Amsterdam, uses a series of interviews she conducted with women who survived the 1995 siege and subsequent genocide in Srebrenica.

Surviving the Bosnian Genocide is broken into chronological sections reflecting the progression of war and genocide as it spread across the country. The layout of the book is designed to provide the basic historical background of the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and the resulting genocide without having to resort to further sources. As an oral historian, Leydesdorff attempts to collect life stories, including memories from before the violence began, in order to offer a snapshot of what life and culture was like for each of these women. By combining short sections of testimony with her own historical narrative, it is easy to understand the growing tension as the former Yugoslavia breaks apart, the increase divisiveness in the ethnic communities, the outbreak of the war, and the search for answers after the genocide. Each of these testimonies is used to weave a larger narrative not only about what happened during the strife and suffering in Bosnia but also about what it means to live as a survivor in Bosnia today. The women who contribute to this narrative provide an immediate and at times frightening glimpse of the consequences of mass atrocities.

With the narrations turn from the siege of Srebrenica to the forced removal of the Bosniak population, the interviewees describe how they were faced with tackling the difficult subject of losing their fathers, sons, and brothers during the slaughter at Potočari and how they were forced to spend their time in holding areas and refugee camps, never knowing what happened to their relatives. In essence, their voices speak of a transition from a state of fear into one of complete uncertainty, as conditions forced them to live on the margins of the Bosnian recovery effort. It is this marginalization that creates a disturbing undercurrent throughout the survivor’s testimony; while it is always expected within the context of a genocidal massacre, there is a persistent feeling of neglect that runs through these oral histories, regardless of whether the survivors are speaking of the past or the present.

While Holocaust survivors spent years processing their experiences and adjusting to a life-after-tragedy, the women of Srebrenica are closer to the event itself and their testimony demonstrates the earliest stages of a struggle to recover. The picture that is often painted by this collection is a brutal one and illustrates the difficult choices and problems faced by victim populations who survive. Even more disturbing, however, is the theme of isolation, which repeats itself through each of the narratives; it is an isolation that is as much defined by the present as it is by events of the past. Unlike the narratives of Holocaust survivors, who have immigrated to other countries and pieced together a new life, the women of Srebrenica seem to be trapped in a political, social, and economic limbo. They have survived without answers about their loved ones; without the support they need to rebuild their communities; and without the international attempts at recognition that followed the Rwandan genocide.

Surviving the Bosnian Genocide provides a clear, concise analysis of conditions in Srebrenica and the genocidal massacre in Potočari. As an author, Leydesdorff manages to organize excerpts...