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Postcards from the Grave is a book by Emir Suljagic, relating to his experiences in Srebrenica, published on 31.7.2005 by Saqi Books (196 pages). It was translated into English by Lejla Haveric and includes an afterword by Ed Vulliamy.

Emir Suljagic is now a journalist living in Sarajevo. His book is the first account of the siege of Srebrenica to to be published in English by a Bosnian who lived through it. In 1992 he was a 17 year old refugee from the ethnic cleansing of the Drina Valley by the Bosnian Serb Army and its Serbian allies. He and his family found shelter in the besieged Bosnian Muslim/Bosniak enclave of Srebrenica. The book is an account of the hardships of daily life in the enclave and the personal impact on Suljagic up until July 1995, when Suljagic survived the genocidal Srebrenica massacre in which over 8,000, mainly men and boys , were killed by the Bosnian Serb army. As an interpreter for the UN, he was evacuated with the Dutch UNPROFOR battalion while almost every man he had ever known and many women too lost their lives.

The book is an unsentimental portrayal of life in a town where 'there were no laws and public authority was based on mutual balance of power.' The author describes how his uncle was shot dead trying to get to humanitarian aid dropped by air into the enclave. The killer enjoyed impunity because of connections with leaders of the municipality. Nevertheless Suljagic expresses respect for Naser Oric, commander of Srebrenica's defence, a charismatic and intimidating presence.

Suljagic's honesty about himself and others makes for a poignant contrast when he gives an insight into the emotions of people living in fear and isolation from their loved ones. People came from across the enclave to get an opportunity to speak on the town's ham radio - its one remaining line of communication - to family and friends elsewhere. "No one ever said, "I love you." Never did an open love declaration pass through those wires, aerials and cables. And yet nowhere and never had there been more love concentrated on one spot than in that half-dark, grey room with bars on the windows."

He decided to write his testimony of the event, which he has dedicated to the victims of the massacre - "ten thousand people, ten thousand coffins, ten thousand gravestones", to counter the revisionist history being put forth by such figures as George Bogdanich. . The book has received attention in the press and in after-action reports of the event as being accurate and undercutting many arguments of revisionists such as Lewis MacKenzie.

References

1. ISBN 0863565190
2. http://www.potocarimc.ba/memorijalni_eng/favorite.htm Potocari Memorial Centre preliminary list of names
3. "Postcards from the Grave", p.158
4. "Postcards from the Grave", back cover
5. "Postcards from the Grave", p.12
6. "Srebrenica Report" by the Srebrenica Research Group
7. Lewis MacKenzie. "The real story behind Srebrenica." The Globe and Mail (Canada), July 14, 2005

External links

• Publisher's summary of "Postcards from the Grave"
• Review of "Postcards from the Grave" by Tim Judah, Observer, 3.7.2005
• Review by SEUK Academic Review

• 2006 books
• Autobiographies