Gori - August 10-12, 2008

She was smoking a cigarette very intensely. She called me. Said that their doctor was shot last night and his blood is now covered with those tree branches.

The military hospital was full the day before. That day it was only several pairs of military boots left behind and mattresses had blood stains.
Visiting that hospital on August 10th
was my first impression on war. The yard was full of doctors, soldiers and priests. There was this woman who was crying continuously asking for her son, whom she had not heard anything about for three days. I refused to go into the morgue but I could smell it.
Doctors seemed extremely tired. They told stories that could not correspond to their gestures and face expression. They spoke of things so much beyond visualizing.

We found several ID cards in the burnt down tank. And I met a young man later who had seen people burning in this car. This was very close to Gori, on the main road on August 12th. That day abandoned military vehicles were scattered on this road turned towards Tbilisi - a sign of surrender.