‘Unfathomable Experiences: Testimonies of Survivors and Witnesses of Various Crimes’
Marian Turski, survivor of Auschwitz
Marin R. Yann, survivor of the Khmer Rouge’s killing fields in Cambodia
Mevludin Rahmanovic, survivor of the Bosnian conflict and Trnopolje concentration camp
Aline Umugwaneza, survivor of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
Moderator: Alicja Białecka, Representative for the New Main Exhibition at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
What was your first memory of being persecuted? Did you understand, at that time, why you were persecuted?
Mr Rahmanovic was 11 when the Bosnian War started; he recalled going down to the basement when the shooting began, and thinking it was “fun”. He “grew up in one night,” however, after his father – a local imam – was beaten up. Even at that age, he was told his family would be killed as they were Muslims, and would be among the first because of his father’s position. Rahmanovic, his mother and his sister left their village and ended up in Trnopolje concentration camp; his father stayed at home, worried that they would all be killed if he escorted them. Rahmanovic described men being killed and women being raped – his mother and sister deliberately made themselves look as unattractive as possible so they would not be targeted. He commented that he has only cried a few times since the end of the conflict, and is determined “never to let anyone give me the power to make me cry.”
Mr Yann explained the background of the genocide in Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge’s enforcement of slave labour. Most worked in the rice fields or built water canals. Approximately two million people were killed during the genocide, including Mr Yann’s parents and siblings. They either disappeared or died from starvation or disease. Yann spoke very movingly about his experiences, including a time when he was caught by a soldier stealing rice from a warehouse. The soldier dragged him to the nearby water canal, holding his head inches above the water and threatening his life. He eventually let Yann go, claiming he would kill him and his entire family should he steal again. He was only six years old.