Mr Yann described being saved by a young Khmer Rouge soldier. The soldier noticed Yann lying unconscious on the ground, close to death, and took him home for his mother to feed and look after him. For Mr Yann, this showed that, “If people have the courage to work against a policy, to know that they are right, to save a person’s life, they don’t have to follow orders.”
Ms Umugwaneza’s family were sheltered for a few days by another family. Soon after their arrival, however, the militia learned that Tutsis were being harboured by this family. Although they had to leave, the father of the family gave them food and water for their journey. Ms Umugwaneza stressed the risks involved in hiding Tutsis – if people were found to be hiding those targeted for murder, they too would be killed.
Finally, Mr Turski talked about making contact with a Polish army unit after being sent from Auschwitz to a labour commando. He and nine other inmates wished to join a guerrilla unit, though this never materialised as the risk of taking 10 young, untrained men without their own weapons would have been too great a risk. Turski also stressed the fact that evil acts were not just perpetrated by the SS, but also by foremen, kapos and prisoners.
Do you remember thinking about the conflict coming to an end - that you might actually survive - and then thinking about what would come next?
Mr Rahmanovic stated that, for a long time after the conflict, he wanted revenge. Eventually, however, he realised that “violence is not the answer,” and that peace and dialogue are the way forward. He believes that more needs to be done to facilitate these, as “it’s actually very easy to persuade people to kill and rape, so we need to look more into this.”
Mr Yann echoed these sentiments. He described people killing Khmer Rouge soldiers after liberation, and as a nine-year-old, he believed this was right. Moving to America allowed him to find peace, but also to stand up for himself. Yann believes that “compassion and education” are the best methods for preventing conflicts, as there are many events taking place in the world that even those considered intelligent do not know about.
Ms Umugwaneza talked about the difficulties facing survivors in Rwanda after the genocide: lives and houses that had to be rebuilt, and the fact that many had to live in the proximity of those who had killed their neighbours and friends. She stated that, “the best revenge wasn’t to hate or take revenge on the murderers; it was to decide to live again and overcome everything,” for oneself but also for those “whose lives were cut short”. Ideas of revenge were soon overtaken by recon ciliation.
Mr Turski recalled his second death march, thinking of revenge against the German population. Yet he also evoked other events in history, such as the end of the Napoleonic Wars, when innocent victims and civilians would also have thought about “justice after violence” in this form. Ultimately, however, in such cases – as in the aftermath of more recent conflicts – one is required to live in a civilised society with others, even those who have perpetrated crimes.
Questions from the audience included the respective penalties against bystanders if they helped those being persecuted; the panellists’ thoughts about the slow (or non-existent) reaction of the global community to their plight; and the language used to describe perpetrators.