Other titles:MENSUDIA VIDEO LETTER (variant spelling) [Alternative Title]
UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: Mensudija, a Bosnian Muslim, was pregnant when she was raped in Stana Popova Kuća camp in Rogatica in 1992. She addresses this open letter to friends she used to know in Goražde, Žepa, Srebrenica and Rogatica.
Description: Mensudija dresses one of her sons. She explains that she has been living in Fojnica for two and a half years with her two sons and her brother. She says that she now lives an ‘almost normal’ life. She wonders if her friends from Goražde know that her life changed completely on 19 June 1992. She still thinks about the events of that day: her paraplegic father being burnt to death in the house, her husband being shot dead, her school friends being killed, pregnant women being killed, old people being killed.
She wonders whether her former friends sleep peacefully. ‘But,’ she says ‘I want to make this clear. I survived’. She says she survived thanks to God and thanks to her eldest son who was eleven at the time. She says that there were moments when many of the mothers wanted to be killed and she was one of them but she always caught her son’s eyes and she read their message which was ‘Mum, endure this!’
She says that her children will not forget what has happened to her but because she has survived to lead a whole life, they will love themselves and will not seek out war. Gordana and her eldest son lead the younger son out of the house and down the street. She hopes that their children will never experience war.
Alternative Title:MENSUDIA VIDEO LETTER (variant spelling) [Alternative Title]
UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
Colour:Croatian (Tape Code C)
Digitised:
Object_Number:UNT 601
Sound:Serbian (Tape D)
Access Conditions:
Featured Period:1990-2000
Production Date:1995-03 1996-01-05
Production Country: UN
Production Details: Currie, Mary (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations:
Keywords: Fojnica, Bosnia-Herzegovina (geography)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Croatian (Tape Code C)
Sound format: Serbian (Tape D)
Technical Details: Format: Beta-SP
Number of items/reels/tapes: 1
Running time: 4 mins 15 secs