- Book Topics
- Bosnia
- Bosnian
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- forensics
- forensic anthropology
- DNA samples
- mass graves
- genocide in Bosnia
- Yugoslavian War
- Serbs
- Serbian
- Slobadan Milosevic
- Chetniks
- Sarajevo
- Krajina
- Croat
- Croatian
- International Criminal Tribune for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
- Michalski Prize
The Bone Whisperers
The 2022 recipient of the Jan Michalski Award for excellence in reporting on human rights issues by a European writer, The Bone Whisperers is an account of the author’s reporting and involvement over the course of several years with those whose delicate and morally essential task it has been to exhume and identify the victims found in mass graves throughout the war-torn regions of the world, particularly in Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the ongoing process over the past two decades, led by the International Commission on Missing Persons, to recover and identify the remains and reunite the victims with their families.
Tervonen follows two women in particular involved in this extremely important yet heart-wrenching work; one, Senem, who searches the DNA profiles stored in bone samples, and the other Darija, who tries to obtain blood samples from the survivors and their families to find a genetic match to that of the victims.
- Book Topics
- Bosnia
- Bosnian
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- forensics
- forensic anthropology
- DNA samples
- mass graves
- genocide in Bosnia
- Yugoslavian War
- Serbs
- Serbian
- Slobadan Milosevic
- Chetniks
- Sarajevo
- Krajina
- Croat
- Croatian
- International Criminal Tribune for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
- Michalski Prize
Reviews and Comments
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Written with honesty and compassion, The Bone Whisperers is a heartrending journey through Bosnia and Herzegovina with French-based Finnish journalist and filmmaker Taina Tervonen… For readers interested in the emotional aspects of forensic anthropology, readers of Kathy Reichs, or those wanting to know more about the human toll of war, The Bone Whisperers is a powerful choice.
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The jurors granted the Jan Michalski Award to Taina Tervonen in recognition of the great sensitivity with which the author, in an incredibly powerful book, takes up the painful subject of mass graves in Bosnia-Herzegovina.