Trnopolje and Omarska II

The day after we visited Trnopolje, we visited Omarska. Omarska was the site of the most brutal concentration camp during the war. The people who ran the Omarska concentration camp were civilians, not members of the armed forces. It was located at a mine that operated throughout the concentration camp's existance and that continues to operate today. Survivors and activists are attempting to have at least part of the site made into a memorial, but they have had limited success.

Emsuda showed us the building that most detainees were held in. We were not able to get very close since mining work was occuring during our visit in the afternoon. We did however, enter the "white house" a small white building that was the center of the Omarska concentration camp. No one who entered survived, and every morning there would be bodies piled outside the house. The day the concentration camp was shut down, there were people inside the house. Some of those people were still alive. Their descriptions of the torture and horrifying things within is chilling and shocking.

Emsuda told us many more stories of Omarska. During one Serbian holiday, the guards at the concentration camp built a huge fire. They spent the day torturing the detainees, then throwing their bodies - some dead, some alive - onto the fire. Those who survived say that during that day, they wished they were dead. The survivors were forced to watch the torturings and burnings and say that at that point, they would have preferred death over continuing to watch. Emsuda finished the story by saying that her brother was one of those who died on that day.

The stories continued as we walked around the grounds. Hearing about these horrible things as I walked upon the ground where these things occurred was overwhelming. Even more shocking was watching the workers at the mine only feet away. These workers knew the stories of the buildings in which they worked. Some had even participated as guards at the concentration camp. Despite this, and despite their knowledge of the reason for our visit, they continued to work uninterrupted. They did not seem to care about the terrible history and importance of Omarska.