They are the things the victims of genocide in Bosnia carried with them on their final journey.

這些是波士尼亞種族大屠殺的受害者在走上絕路時攜帶的東西。

We are all familiar with these mundane, everyday objects.

我們都很熟悉這些平凡無奇的日常用品。

The fact that some of the victims carried personal items such as toothpaste and a toothbrush is a clear sign they had no idea what was about to happen to them.

一些受害者身上帶著個人用品像牙膏及牙刷，清楚地顯示出他們並不知道自己將面臨怎麼意盎的命運。

Usually, they were told that they were going to be exchanged for prisoners of war.

通常他們被告知他們將與敵國戰俘交換。

These items have been recovered from numerous mass graves across my homeland, and as we speak, forensics are exhuming bodies from newly discovered mass graves, 20 years after the war.

這些物品從我的家鄉多個萬人塚中挖掘出來。，而就在距離戰爭已經結束了 20 年的當下，法醫鑑識人員仍正在從新發現的萬人塚中掘出屍體。

And it is quite possibly the largest ever discovered.

而這個萬人塚很可能是有史以來最大的一個。

During the four years of conflict that devastated the Bosnian nation in the early '90s, approximately 30,000 citizens, mainly civilians, went missing, presumed killed, and another 100,000 were killed during combat operations.

在 90 年代早期開始蹂躪了波士尼亞四年的衝突，有大約三萬主要是平民的公民從人間蒸發並被推定死亡，另外還有十萬人在作戰行動中被殺。

Most of them were killed either in the early days of the war or towards the end of the hostilities, when U.N. safe zones like Srebrenica fell into the hands of the Serb army.

他們受害的時間大多在戰事早期或敵對行為的尾聲， 也就是如斯雷布雷尼查等聯合國安全區落入塞爾維亞軍隊手中的時候。

International criminal tribunal delivered a number of sentences for crimes against humanity and genocide.

國際刑事法庭宣判了數項針對人權及種族大屠殺罪行的刑責。

Genocide is a systematic and deliberate destruction of a racial, political, religious or ethnic group.

種族大屠殺是一種以系統性方式蓄意毀滅一個種族、政治、宗教或民族群體的行為。

As much as genocide is about killing, it is also about destroying their property, their cultural heritage, and ultimately the very notion that they ever existed.

種族大屠殺不但要將目標人群趕盡殺絕，它還要摧毀受害者的財產、他們的文化傳承，最終還要毀滅他們曾經存在過的證據。

Genocide is not only about the killing; it is about the denied identity.

種族大屠殺不僅僅是殺人而已：它要否定身分認同。

There are always traces —no such thing as a perfect crime.

但只要是罪過總會留下些蛛絲馬跡。這世上沒有所謂的完美犯罪。

There are always remnants of the perished ones that are more durable than their fragile bodies and our selective and fading memory of them.

遇害者的遺物比它們主人脆弱的身軀，以及我們選擇性淡忘的記憶都還要來的堅不可摧。

These items are recovered from numerous mass graves, and the main goal of this collection of the items is a unique process of identifying those who disappeared in the killings, the first act of genocide on European soil since the Holocaust.

這些物品被從多個萬人塚中挖掘出來， 而收集這些物品主要的目的，是經由一段獨特的過程來驗明在屠殺中消失者的身分。這是歐洲大陸上，在猶太人大屠殺之後的第一起種族滅絕事件。

Not a single body should remain undiscovered or unidentified.

每一具遺體都該被發掘並辨識。

Once recovered, these items that the victims carried with them on their way to execution are carefully cleaned, analyzed, catalogued and stored.

在挖掘出來後，這些受害者帶著陪他們走上絕路的物品，都會被仔細的清洗、分析、 分類及保存。

Thousands of artifacts are packed in white plastic bags just like the ones you see on CSI.

成千上萬的出土物包在白色的塑膠袋中，就好像你在 CSI 犯罪現場中所看到的一樣。

These objects are used as a forensic tool in visual identification of the victims, but they are also used as very valuable forensic evidence in the ongoing war crimes trials.

這些物品能做為法醫辨識人員在目視識別受害者時使用的工具， 但他們也可當作非常有價值的法醫證據，並在持續進行的戰犯審判上承堂供證。

Survivors are occasionally called to try to identify these items physically, but physical browsing is extremely difficult, an ineffective and painful process.

倖存者有時候也會被傳喚來試著親眼辨認這些物品， 但是親眼瀏覽極其困難， 成為一段效果不彰又令人痛苦不堪的過程。

Once the forensics and doctors and lawyers are done with these objects, they become orphans of the narrative.

一旦法醫人員及醫生及律師不再需要這些物品， 它們就變成了敘事中沒人要的孤兒。

Many of them get destroyed, believe it or not, or they get simply shelved, out of sight and out of mind.

信不信由你，很多物品都被銷毀或是束之高，眼不見為淨。

I decided a few years ago to photograph every single exhumed item in order to create a visual archive that survivors could easily browse.

我在數年前決定要拍攝每一項挖掘出的物品，以製作出讓倖存者能輕易地瀏覽的視覺檔案庫。

As a storyteller, I like to give back to the community.

作為一個說故事的人，我想要回饋社區。

I like to move beyond raising awareness.

我想做的不只是喚起意識而已。

And in this case, someone may recognize these items, or at least their photographs will remain as a permanent, unbiased and accurate reminder of what happened.

我這樣做或許就有人能辨認這些物品，或 至少這些物品的照片能被保留下來，作為一種提醒我們曾經發生過什麼事的永久、公正又準確的紀念。

Photography is about empathy, and the familiarity of these items guarantee empathy.

攝影能激起同理心，而這些熟悉的物品保證能使看到的人產生同理心。

In this case, I am merely a tool, a forensic, if you like, and the result is a photography that is as close as possible of being a document.

在整件事當中，我不過就是個工具－你也可以說我是一名法醫鑑定員，而結果就是拍出盡可能記實的文物攝影。

Once all the missing persons are identified, only decaying bodies in their graves and these everyday items will remain.

一旦確認了所有的失蹤人口，只有在墳墓中腐化的屍體以及這些日常用品會留下。

In all their simplicity, these items are the last testament to the identity of the victims, the last permanent reminder that these people ever existed.

就是因為它們很普通，這些物品成為證明受害者身分的最後證據， 也是對這些人曾經存在過的恆久提醒。

Thank you very much.

感謝各位。