Surviving the impossible: The long March from Srebrenica. An investigation of the possible use of chemical warfare agents

Hay, Alastair

doi:10.1080/13623699808409383

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Hallucinations occurring in victims of predatory aggression are well-described from the Rwanda genocide, the Srebrenica massacre and the Holocaust (see for example 74 for the Srebrenica massacre), but we were unable to identify classical NDEs in genocide survivors. Of note, however, we did find examples from each of these three events when (conscious) death feigning enabled individuals of Tutsi, Bosnian Muslim or Jewish heritage to survive mass murder against all odds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

The evolutionary origin of near-death experiences: a systematic investigation

Peinkhofer

Martial

Cassol

et al. 2021

Brain Communications

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Near-death experiences are known from all parts of the world, various times and numerous cultural backgrounds. This universality suggests that near-death experiences may have a biological origin and purpose. Adhering to a preregistered protocol, we investigate the hypothesis that thanatosis aka. death-feigning, a last-resort defense mechanism in animals, is the evolutionary origin of near-death experiences. We first show that thanatosis is a highly preserved survival strategy occurring at all major nodes in a cladogram ranging from insects to humans. We then show that humans under attack by animal, human and “modern” predators can experience both thanatosis and near-death experiences, and we further show that the phenomenology and the effects of the two overlap. In summary, we build a line of evidence suggesting that thanatosis is the evolutionary foundation of near-death experiences and that their shared biological purpose is the benefit of survival. We propose that the acquisition of language enabled humans to transform these events from relatively stereotyped death-feigning under predatory attacks into the rich perceptions that form near-death experiences and extend to non-predatory situations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

The evolutionary origin of near-death experiences: a systematic investigation

Peinkhofer

Martial

Cassol

et al. 2021

Brain Communications

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“…After the literature on the likeliest CW agent, 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate (BZ), and on stress as a cause of hallucinations was reviewed, CW exposure could not be ruled out. It was concluded that the hallucinations can be ascribed to the consequence of multiple stress: artillery attacks, exhaustion due to lack of sleep, starvation, thirst and the effects of drinking unpurified water (34). Despite the fact that Srebrenica was a United Nations (UN) safe zone, the murder of 7,000-8,000 Bosniak men was not prevented.…”

Section: Srebrenicamentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological consequences of war-traumatized children and adolescents in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Hasanović

2011

AMA

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²Research into the psychosocial consequences of war and political violence on children's and adolescent's developmental wellbeing has shown a steady increase over the last decades. Numerous studies, from differing cultures in different war zones around the world, have documented the effect on children of exposure to war atrocities. The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) 1992-1995, at the end of 20 th century found the citizens of BH and the world mental health professionals and scientists unprepared to deal with the adverse consequences for the entire BH population and especially for its most vulnerable part, children and adolescents, to be able to take adequate measures of sufficient mental health care to prevent devastating consequences of severe multiple traumas. Only a few research studies were done during and after this war in BH, the United States, Sweden, Norway, the UK and Germany focusing on the relationship between war trauma, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, suicidal thoughts, acculturation, repatriation, poverty, behavioral problems, school adjustment, relational problems of children and their mothers after deployment of war PTSD veterans and war prisoners, and treatment of psychological consequences in examined children and adolescents from BH. The major part of this paper reviewed available literature on Medline that reported national and international studies which investigated the psychological consequences of war on BH children and adolescents and several papers about children and adolescents from Srebrenica, that were not indexed on Medline, but showed very crucial results for the issue described.

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“…However, the marked hallucinogenic actions of QNB led to its potential use as a CWA (Marshall, 1979). In July 1995, the Yugoslav People's Army allegedly used an incapacitating agent that caused hallucinations and irrational behavior against Bosnian refugees fleeing the town of Srebrenica (Hay, 1998). While many believe that this incapacitating agent was QNB, there is no evidence to support this allegation.…”

Section: -Quinuclidinyl Benzilatementioning

confidence: 95%