„He grabbed a pregnant woman by the hair and slit her stomach with a knife, removing two babies.“

N.N., born in 1966 in a village near Bratunac. The war found her in the village where she was married. She stayed there until 1995 when she was expelled to Srebrenica.

In that chaos, I found a friend. She too was alone and very frightened. We managed to cling to a truck carrying the wounded and thus reached Potočari. The wounded were placed in the Battery Factory. We also entered there, thinking we would be safe. Later, we realized that it would have been better to stay with the people outside the factory because we would have reached Tuzla sooner and not witnessed terrible things. We spent three days and three nights in the factory. At night, they took men out of the factory, and they never returned.

I couldn't sleep a single night. Around three in the morning, a man hanged himself. It was a horrific scene. Panic seized the people. A woman started screaming and tried to slit her throat with a knife. Then panic ensued to the point where no one knew what was happening. When dawn broke, I told my friend that I was going to fetch water. I walked out through the doors where men had been taken out the previous night. I passed behind a truck and saw 5 - 6 people who had been decapitated. I turned around and behind the truck saw four Chetniks sitting and drinking. Two women walked by them, one of whom was pregnant. One of the Chetniks angrily asked where they had come from, and they just pointed to a water bottle. Then another one stood up, grabbed the pregnant woman by the hair, and slit her stomach with a knife, from which he removed two babies. I heard her manage to say, "Mother, save me."

I ran back to the factory without finding any water. My friend told me that the evacuation had stopped and that we were left as captives. I decided that we had to leave. There were ropes at the doors. A soldier stood there and wouldn't let us out. Nevertheless, we jumped over the ropes and started running towards a bus. During that run, I realized I had stepped on the hand of a man who had been slaughtered. There was a bus and a truck on the road with very few people around them. Not far from the bus, someone pulled me from behind and called me by name. Terrified, I turned around and saw that it was my Serbian neighbor.

He asked me where the rest of my family was, and I just shrugged because I didn't know anything about them. He told me to get on the bus, not the truck. One Chetnik on the side was saying that we should be taken back to the factory, but my neighbor ignored him, led us to the bus, and told me to take off my green sweater because I could be harassed for wearing green. We settled into the bus and set off.

My friend was very scared, so I spent the entire journey encouraging and comforting her to endure. After Kravica, Chetniks boarded the bus, inquiring about some people from Potočari, looking for gold, money, and documents. Those who had them gave them up. Then two Chetniks brought in a girl I didn't know. She was all wet and exhausted. She collapsed on the bus floor. When the bus started moving, I went over to her and offered her a seat.

She was crying and said, "Kill me! I have been raped!" And I cried out of sorrow for that girl. A woman she knew approached and took care of her for the rest of the journey. We arrived in Kladanj, and then at Dubrave Airport near Tuzla. After two days, we found our families.

Testimony published on 24sata.hr