Överlevarna

1934 “I was born in Irbid, in al-Urdunn, but my family comes from al-Nasira. We have lived there for 300 years. I was a wild child. When my father had guests, I would go outside and take one of the guests’ horses. I always chose a calm…

1948 “After the massacre in Dayr Yasin, which was a suburb of al-Quds, we were forced to flee. Most people were afraid of suffering the same fate. But my grandfather and his brother refused; they said they would stay and guard our house.

- Min pappa Jerry föddes 1939. När han var sex månader övergav farfar familjen. De sågs aldrig igen, säger Mattias Sackrén. - Pappa kom att jobba med reklam, bland annat åt sin morbror, Nathan Sackrén, som startade klädkedjan Hollywood på…

- Min pappa var född i Sverige och vi bodde på eleganta Östermalm. När jag kom till judiska lekskolan så minns jag att de här föräldrarna såg annorlunda ut, dom såg liksom rädda ut och kunde inte tala ”riktig” svenska, säger Mirjam…

1945 “My mother milked the sheep and sold the milk in ‘Akka. Just a few days after she had given birth, she started working again. Our house was always full of people. We had enormous wedding celebrations. The bride wore a white…

1946 “There were some Jews living in my village, and we were friends with them. In Akka there were more Jews. If I got sick, I used to go to a Jewish doctor in Akka named Nathan. As children, we did not distinguish between Christians…

1948 “The Egyptian army was supposed to defend the village, but when the Jews attacked at night, the Egyptians abandoned us. My mother, my older brother, and I fled into the darkness to a field where our cows and sheep were grazing. All…

1945 “Behind our house there was a large fig tree. I used to play in the shade beneath it. Behind the house there was also a cave. My mother and grandmother gathered firewood there. They lit a fire and cooked food, fried eggs, and baked…

1936 “My paternal uncle was 16 years old when he was killed by Jewish guards on horseback. They struck him on the head and he died the following day. My father’s employer, a Zionist named Dubel, offered my father a bag containing 10,000…

1946 "We were farmers and grew wheat, olives, fruit and tobacco. Our tobacco was well-known, it was on a level with the Greek. We had different names for each area of land, depending on what we grew on it. Sometimes we slept in the fields.

1948 "The Zionists killed my maternal uncle, Ahmed Shaban, and three others. They were shot in front of all the villagers. My uncle, who was perhaps 30 years old, was in the resistance movement, first against the British occupation, then…

1946 ”My father owned a lot of land where he grew wheat and tobacco. He sold the tobacco to a company in ‘Akka. We had sheep, goats, camels, and cows. My father bought donkeys from Cyprus; they were strong. I used to help with the milking.

1947 “Lubya was a large village. The land stretched all the way down toward Ṭabariyya. We were farmers and grew olives, figs, and grapes. Some of my brothers were able to study in Ṭabariyya. For us girls, it was not considered as…

1948 “When the Zionists attacked the villages around Hamama, people fled to our village. Then our village was attacked as well. The attack came from the main road. Our men went out toward the road, but they only had old weapons to defend…

“We lived in a small house on Mount Carmel. It was a mixed area with Muslims and Jews. My father worked at a cigarette factory and also sold olive oil. My brother started working at Spinneys supermarket, which was owned by a couple of…

“My father was a farmer. He grew, among other things, potatoes and tomatoes. I used to tend his sheep.” - What do you remember of your home village? “Your question is wrongly put. You should ask who kicked me out of my land. When the…

1947 “Near us was the Jewish village of Nesher. They visited our olive groves and we visited their homes. We were almost like siblings.”

1948 “Men, women, children, and the elderly arrived in Nablus by truck. They had been expelled from villages and towns in the surrounding area. The refugees were housed in a school. Inside, many families were gathered in one large hall.

1946 “I grew up in Akka. We had a shop where my father sold timber. I was part of a scout band that played music in the streets. When we passed by my father’s shop, he would come out and watch. When he caught sight of me, he would start to…

1936 “I don’t know exactly what year I was born. We didn’t use dates or years. We were illiterate. We used to say that someone was born the same year someone else died.” 1940 “My mother died when I was three or four years old. I don’t…

1943 “My father was a simple man who worked in all kinds of construction jobs. He was the kindest person in the world. Every time my mother chased us, he yelled at her. My father also had a cart from which he sold boiled corn. Sometimes I…

1943 “Palestinian Jews and Arabs lived side by side, like one family. Arabs married Jews and Jews married Arabs. They were our friends, our relatives—we protected them.”

1944 “My father had a fairly large shoe shop in Haifa. We also owned real estate. We were very well off financially. As a child, I never noticed any tension between the Jews and us. We lived next door to a Jewish family. When they…

1941 “The house I grew up in was located on one of Jerusalem’s main streets. The façade was white and the door was blue. When you entered the house, you went down a few steps and arrived in a large room. On the ground floor there was a…

1946 “My father owned a lot of land where he grew grapes, figs, olives, and other crops. We also had livestock. Many people worked for us during the harvest season. My father died when I was three years old. I remember the olive harvests.

1937 “I was an only child. My father died when I was four years old. My mother remarried his cousin. They had four more children.” 1947 “I got married when I was fifteen. My husband, Mahmud, was eighteen. It was shortly before al-Nakba.”…

1948 “Before I had turned seven, we finally got a school in our village. My father wanted me to receive an education. I, along with eight other girls, started school. Four months later, al-Nakba occurred.” 1982 “After the Israelis attacked…

“I always slept next to my grandmother. I used to lie there hugging her. One evening, I woke up to gunfire and bombing. There were only children and women in the room. It was crowded. Everyone was lying on top of each other. Then I noticed…

“My country is not a suitcase, and I am not on a journey.”

1948 — When was the first time you met a Jew? “It was when they bombed our village and we were forced to flee with only the clothes we were wearing. Everything else we had to leave behind. But I never actually saw them. We fled to the…