David Sladek
Unspoken Genocide

During my several trips to the region I spoke to twenty survivors who, despite being only children in those days, have seen and lived through unimaginable horror. Their stories form a critical background to knowledge of the Western Balkans of these days. But it is not the cruelty of the stories that take centre stage of my interviews. After speaking to the first few survivors, I realised, that the memories of war were been suppressed inside them after the war for multiple reasons.

It is not unusual from a psychological point of view that people want to forget. But in the case of post war Yugoslavia even those who wanted to speak out couldn't. For they were building a new country alongside Croatia, who was their butcher years earlier. Social and political pressure in the name of 'unity and brotherhood' meant that the survivors were being silenced and no real apology came from the Croatian side.

It was a truly Unspoken Genocide and as suggested by some of the survivors, the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990's may have come in an entirely different form were the issues of WW2 properly closed.

The book itself will be a photographic record of the interviews with suggestive black and white images of survivors as taken during my interviews. Approx 150 pictures selected from hundreds more will show the emotions that never died, the struggle to find peace even after decades of post war life and relay a message that never again shall mankind open hell on Earth and prevent people from talking about it.

The book will be top quality printed size 30cm x 25cm and will contain critical quotes from the interviews to accompany the images. Additionally, there will be a link to a dedicated website www.unspokengenocide.com which will contain full interviews, extra pictures and continuously bring more translations. The book itself will be in English and Serbian.

This campaign is to recover some of my printing and translation costs and gives you a chance to not only pre-order the book but also a unique opportunity to donate second book to one of the heroes of the interviews. My hope is that with such personal link the survivors will feel that their word is now finally being heard.

Here are some technical details about the book:
Hardcover 30x25xm (approx 12x10in)
High quality Duotone print
150 pages and approx 150 images

Wall of images of dead children bodies in concentration camp. Museum of Republika Srpska, Banja Luka, Bosnia

Neizgovoren Genocid

Knjiga ‘Neizgovoren Genocid’ je rezultat moje skoro dvogodisnje istrage o rasvetljavanju jednog dela ljudske istorije koja mi je bila nepoznata. Stotine hiljada ljudi je nestalo u jednom od najvecih zverskih genocida na svetu. Za vreme Drugog Svetskog Rata, stvorena je fasisticka Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska kojoj je bio cilj izvrsiti etnicko ciscenje svoje zemlje od Srba, Jevreja, Roma, i svih onih koji su se protivili filozofiji ciste, Hrvatske Katolicke drzave.

I dan danas secanja stradale dece u koncentracionim logorima i brutalnih taktika Ustasa su nocne more prezivelih ljudi.

Razgovarao sam sa dvadeset prezivelih koji su svedoci uzasnih dogadjaja, iako su bili deca za vreme zlocina. Njihova iskusenja sluze kao podloga za znanje o desavanjima na prostorima Zapadnog Balkana u to doba.

Moj rad se ne tice okrutnosti tih desavanja, vec sluzi da se otkrije poruka na emocije i uspomene rata koje su potisnute u secanja prezivelih ljudi.

Psiholoski gledano, nije bezmisleno to da ljudi zele da zaborave na ruzna secanja. Medjutim, u slucaju posleratne Jugoslavije, cak i oni koji su zeleli da se rasterete tih secanja i da govore javno o iskustvima, nisu to smeli. Gradila se nova drzava zajedno sa Hrvatskom, sto je znacilo da su preziveli bili ucutkani u ime ‘bratstva i jedinstva’, uz drustvene i politicke pritiske, i to bez javnog izvinjenja sa Hrvatske strane.

Zaista se o tom genocidu nije dovoljno reklo. Kako su priznali i sami preziveli, raspad Jugoslavije 90-tih bi mogao imati drugaciji zavrsetak, da su desavanja iz Drugog Svetskog Rata na vreme istinito prikazana.

Sama knjiga ce biti fotografski zapis istrazivanja, i sadrzace crno-bele slike prezivelih ljudi tokom intervjua. Od vise stotina, u knjizi ce biti prikazano priblizno 150 slika koje su najverodostojniji opis emocija i borbe za mir nakon decenija posleratnog zivota. Slike prenose poruku svetu da se nikada ne sme ponoviti ovakav zlocin, a kamoli sprecavati da se govori o njemu.

Knjiga ce biti visokog kvaliteta, velicine 30x25cm, sa citatima iz intervjua propracena fotografijama. Uz to, postojace link za internet stranicu www.unspokengenocide.com, koja ce sadrzati dodatne fotografije i potpune intervjue sa prevodom. Knjiga ce biti dostupna na Srpskom i Engleskom jeziku.

Kampanja sluzi da se prikupi novcana pomoc koja bi omogucila stampanje i prevod mog rada. Dodatno, kampanja omogucava narudzbu knjige unapred, i nacin poklanjanja primeraka knjige prezivelima, koji su ucestvovali u ovom radu. Cilj je da se pokaze prezivelima da se njihova rec konacno cuje.