Everyday objects, tragic histories
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0:01 - 0:02These are simple objects:
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0:02 - 0:06clocks, keys, combs, glasses.
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0:06 - 0:09They are the things the victims of genocide in Bosnia
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0:09 - 0:12carried with them on their final journey.
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0:12 - 0:14We are all familiar with these mundane,
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0:14 - 0:16everyday objects.
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0:16 - 0:18The fact that some of the victims carried
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0:18 - 0:21personal items such as
toothpaste and a toothbrush -
0:21 - 0:23is a clear sign they had no idea
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0:23 - 0:25what was about to happen to them.
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0:25 - 0:28Usually, they were told that they were going to be
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0:28 - 0:30exchanged for prisoners of war.
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0:30 - 0:32These items have been recovered
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0:32 - 0:35from numerous mass graves across my homeland,
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0:35 - 0:38and as we speak, forensics are exhuming bodies
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0:38 - 0:40from newly discovered mass graves,
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0:40 - 0:4120 years after the war.
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0:41 - 0:45And it is quite possibly the largest ever discovered.
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0:45 - 0:48During the four years of conflict
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0:48 - 0:50that devastated the Bosnian nation in the early '90s,
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0:50 - 0:54approximately 30,000 citizens, mainly civilians,
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0:54 - 0:56went missing, presumed killed,
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0:56 - 0:58and another 100,000 were killed
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0:58 - 1:00during combat operations.
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1:00 - 1:01Most of them were killed
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1:01 - 1:03either in the early days of the war
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1:03 - 1:04or towards the end of the hostilities,
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1:04 - 1:07when U.N. safe zones like Srebrenica
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1:07 - 1:11fell into the hands of the Serb army.
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1:11 - 1:13The international criminal tribunal
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1:13 - 1:14delivered a number of sentences
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1:14 - 1:17for crimes against humanity and genocide.
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1:17 - 1:21Genocide is a systematic and deliberate
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1:21 - 1:24destruction of a racial, political, religious
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1:24 - 1:26or ethnic group.
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1:26 - 1:29As much as genocide is about killing.
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1:29 - 1:32It is also about destroying their property,
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1:32 - 1:33their cultural heritage,
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1:33 - 1:37and ultimately the very notion that they ever existed.
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1:37 - 1:39Genocide is not only about the killing;
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1:39 - 1:42it is about the denied identity.
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1:42 - 1:44There are always traces —
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1:44 - 1:46no such thing as a perfect crime.
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1:46 - 1:48There are always remnants of the perished ones
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1:48 - 1:51that are more durable than their fragile bodies
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1:51 - 1:55and our selective and fading memory of them.
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1:55 - 1:57These items are recovered
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1:57 - 1:58from numerous mass graves,
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1:58 - 2:02and the main goal of this collection of the items
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2:02 - 2:03is a unique process
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2:03 - 2:07of identifying those who disappeared in the killings,
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2:07 - 2:09the first act of genocide on European soil
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2:09 - 2:11since the Holocaust.
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2:11 - 2:13Not a single body should remain undiscovered
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2:13 - 2:15or unidentified.
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2:15 - 2:17Once recovered,
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2:17 - 2:20these items that the victims carried with them
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2:20 - 2:21on their way to execution
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2:21 - 2:23are carefully cleaned, analyzed,
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2:23 - 2:26catalogued and stored.
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2:26 - 2:29Thousands of artifacts are
packed in white plastic bags -
2:29 - 2:31just like the ones you see on CSI.
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2:31 - 2:34These objects are used as a forensic tool
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2:34 - 2:36in visual identification of the victims,
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2:36 - 2:40but they are also used as
very valuable forensic evidence -
2:40 - 2:42in the ongoing war crimes trials.
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2:42 - 2:45Survivors are occasionally called
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2:45 - 2:47to try to identify these items physically,
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2:47 - 2:50but physical browsing is extremely difficult,
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2:50 - 2:54an ineffective and painful process.
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2:54 - 2:57Once the forensics and doctors and lawyers
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2:57 - 2:58are done with these objects,
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2:58 - 3:01they become orphans of the narrative.
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3:01 - 3:04Many of them get destroyed, believe it or not,
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3:04 - 3:06or they get simply shelved,
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3:06 - 3:08out of sight and out of mind.
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3:08 - 3:11I decided a few years ago
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3:11 - 3:13to photograph every single exhumed item
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3:13 - 3:15in order to create a visual archive
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3:15 - 3:19that survivors could easily browse.
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3:19 - 3:23As a storyteller, I like to give back to the community.
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3:23 - 3:25I like to move beyond raising awareness.
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3:25 - 3:28And in this case, someone may
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3:28 - 3:29recognize these items
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3:29 - 3:32or at least their photographs will remain
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3:32 - 3:36as a permanent, unbiased and accurate reminder
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3:36 - 3:38of what happened.
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3:38 - 3:40Photography is about empathy,
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3:40 - 3:43and the familiarity of these
items guarantee empathy. -
3:43 - 3:45In this case, I am merely a tool,
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3:45 - 3:47a forensic, if you like,
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3:47 - 3:50and the result is a photography that is as close
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3:50 - 3:52as possible of being a document.
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3:52 - 3:56Once all the missing persons are identified,
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3:56 - 3:57only decaying bodies in their graves
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3:57 - 4:00and these everyday items will remain.
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4:00 - 4:02In all their simplicity,
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4:02 - 4:04these items are the last testament
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4:04 - 4:05to the identity of the victims,
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4:05 - 4:07the last permanent reminder
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4:07 - 4:09that these people ever existed.
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4:09 - 4:12Thank you very much.
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4:12 - 4:15(Applause)
- Title:
- Everyday objects, tragic histories
- Speaker:
- Ziyah Gafic
- Description:
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Ziyah Gafić photographs everyday objects—watches, shoes, glasses. But these images are deceptively simple; the items in them were exhumed from the mass graves of the Bosnian War. Gafić, a TED Fellow and Sarajevo native, has photographed every item from these graves in order to create a living archive of the identities of those lost.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 04:32
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyday objects, tragic histories | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for Everyday objects, tragic histories | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyday objects, tragic histories | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyday objects, tragic histories | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Everyday objects, tragic histories | ||
Madeleine Aronson accepted English subtitles for Everyday objects, tragic histories | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for Everyday objects, tragic histories | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for Everyday objects, tragic histories |