I Survived Genocide: This Is What I Didn't Survive—And You Won't Either

In this unfiltered, soul-witnessing episode of Exiled and Rising, Ana Mael reads directly from page 185 of her memoir The Trauma We Don’t Talk About. This is a reading and reflection—not from the past, but from the living, ongoing truth of what genocide does to the body, the nervous system, and the identity.

In a world where genocide is happening in real-time, and where survivors are still being erased in therapy rooms, courtrooms, and spiritual circles, Ana Mael offers a rare and urgent voice—as a licensed somatic trauma therapist, a war refugee, and a genocide survivor.

Her words come not from theory, but from the bones of lived experience.
From decades of witnessing the aftermath—in her own body, in her clients' stories, and in the nervous systems of those who were never fully seen.

And that’s what makes this episode so politically vital:

• She is one of the only trauma professionals publicly naming genocide from both inside and outside the field.

• She speaks not just of healing—but of truth, justice, and dignity as non-negotiable parts of trauma recovery.

• She refuses to sanitize or spiritualize violence to make it more palatable for systems that benefit from silence.

In a time where:

• Genocides are denied

• Survivors are dismissed

• Wellness spaces avoid politics

• And therapy often demands forgiveness without accountability…

Ana does something radical.
She tells the truth.
She calls for justice.
She names what others are too afraid—or too removed—to touch.

This is not just a podcast.
This is testimony.
This is somatic resistance.
This is advocacy through the nervous system.
And it’s what makes Exiled and Rising one of the most politically and spiritually relevant trauma podcasts of our time.

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Core Themes and Lessons:

• Surviving genocide is not the whole story. Ana survived three wars, like her parents and grandparents. Fifty-eight people survived—but what wasn’t survived was the genocide of the self: name, childhood, innocence, and humanity.

• Resilience comes with a cost. The fear wired into bones doesn’t disappear. What looks like strength to others may feel like unlivable tension inside the body.

• This isn’t a history lesson—it’s a nervous system reality. When your body has prepared itself to survive genocide, it does not unlearn that readiness easily. It carries that into daily life, decades later: into work, relationships, parenting, and even moments of stillness.

• Identity trauma is cumulative, not just personal. If the genocide of your ethnicity, religion, and humanity is never acknowledged, your children will inherit the silence. Your grandchildren will inherit the somatic residue of shame and loss.

• What we don’t say