Discomfort in the Field: On Doing Fieldwork in Sites of Atrocities

During two summer months in 1941, Slana bay, located in the northwestern part of the island of Pag, was the location of a death camp organized by the Ustasha, in which many were forced to suffer extreme conditions and perished, due in large part to their ethnic identity: according to available archival sources and testimonies, the majority of them were Serbs and Jews. In Metajna, the village closest to the camp, there were two villas and an unidentified smaller house that were turned into a camp for women and children during those summer months in 1941. However, when you visit the village of Metajna today, or hike or sail to the Slana bay, you will find no trace of visible signs mentioning the historical use of the sites in either of these places. This article will provide a short overview of the contemporary erasure of the Slana camp from the map of memory and delve into the difficulties and discomforts of doing research in sites of atrocities, with special regard to a specific affective atmosphere surrounding memory of the Second World War.