Tragedy and hope

16. April 1993

BLOOD-TEARS-DEATH mark this day. 

REMEMBRANCE-HOPE-WILL TO LIVE characterize the days that follow!

This book delves deep into the abyss of war, 

portraying the tragedy and perfidy from the perspective of a child.

"... Thomas Obruča does a masterful job, of which there are not many such precise testimonies in current literature. He takes us into the soul of the victim, shows his strength of will, the temptations, he leads us through his fears of death and through the labyrinth of hallucinations, dreams and hopes. He shows us what life is like in a total confrontation with absolute evil ..."

Review and article fom Fuad Đidić, tacno.net, published 16.6.2023 

„It is a great piece of work and an important voice from this tragic history, which sadly was published in times when hundreds of similar are happening again, and again so close....“

Anna W., Poland

„I don’t think I’ve ever read a more compelling, griping and timely story. The fact that it is based on real events makes it all that more heart-breaking...My words just don’t fully capture my emotions regarding this book, but I appreciate you sharing the story...“

Lorraine Mixon-Page, MA, Associate Director of Human Resources, University of Missouri, School of Medicine, USA

„Rarely does one find the skills of a criminal analyst, combined with the compassion and grace of an unwitting poet, woven into one text.“

Dina Greenberg, author of the novel „Nermina’s chance“ (Atmosphere press), USA

"The experiences are almost unbearable for the writer as well as for the reader, and yet one must read this book, even and especially now, when, apart from the Ukraine war, new conflicts are brewing again in the Balkans as well."

It is this combination of the individual story of the 13-year-old boy with the work of the ICTY that makes the book so unique and thus so worth reading."

Prof. Dr. Thomas Feltes M.A., Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Polizei-Newsletter.de/Germany

"You have really succeeded in writing a contemporary document that is deeply touching. Many in Austria seem to be sinking into "civilization oblivion". Therefore it is all the more necessary to be reminded that it is not a matter of course to live in peace."

Irmgard R., Austria

„The tragedy of a small Bosnian village at the 20th century. A shocking example of how ethnically different groups that have lived together and accepted each others’ religion, customs and habits for many generations were sucked into a human abyss. Thomas Obruča looked at the world with his lines in the work Ahmići - soundly, honestly and clearly. 

A psychological masterpiece of historical significance." 

Dr. Thomas Müller, criminal psychologist and former head of the Criminal Psychological Service of the Federal Ministry of the Interior/ Vienna 

"This single fate in a child's narrative shows the utter madness of "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia and Herzegovina much more vividly and mercilessly than many comprehensive reports of international investigative bodies.

Not an easy read, but necessary to learn the lessons of this dark chapter of history and hopefully to prevent future genocides."

Manfred Nowak , University Professor for Human Rights in Vienna and Secretary General of the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice*

*At the time of the Yugoslav war, he was UN envoy to investigate the fate of nearly 30,000 disappeared persons in the former Yugoslavia, and after the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995, he served as one of eight international judges at the highest court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.