Preface by the authors

Georgia's recent history is marked by internal conflicts and wars. However, the voices of those directly impacted by these wars, as well as those with memories of the conflicts, have been largely excluded from the political agenda. In light of this, we, the authors sought to address the cohabitation of Georgians and Ossetians, the conflicts, and the imperative to achieve peace, recognizing its multi-layered nature in this report. Throughout our research, we drew upon the experiences of the Georgian and Ossetian populations residing in villages near the dividing line. We constructed the narrative based on the chronology of their stories and their own words. The title of this report is also inspired by the words of one of our respondents. In our efforts to ensure the accuracy of our findings and to avoid misinterpretation, we have extensively incorporated the words of the respondents, presenting their voices in their own authentic form. We acknowledge that this account may not comprehensively capture the diverse and conflicting experiences associated with themes of war and peace, cohabitation, and mourning. Despite this limitation, the report is replete with thought-provoking experiences and visions for the future of the people residing in villages around the dividing line. Consequently, we believe that this text has the potential to broaden perspectives and stimulate new ways of thinking about these events.

We would like to emphasize that, rather than analyzing the findings, we treated the findings themselves as the source for the analysis of events.

We express our gratitude to all participants in the study for their memorable cooperation and hospitality.

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