The Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Day 9

Thursday, September 14, 2017

I came to the Balkans to learn more about the roots of WW I.  However, I discovered that the citizens here are way beyond that.  They have been involved in two more major wars since then, and the most recent is still fresh on their minds - and the real focus of discussion. The visit to Sarajevo is not much of a travelogue but a look at the inhumanity of war.

The Yugoslav Wars from 1991-1995 ravaged the country in every way -- morally, politically, socially and economically. It was once thought to be a civil war following the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991. However, it is now accepted that it was a war between countries, with  Serbia being the aggressor.

We began our morning with a local guide who took us first (on our bus) to a place beyond the airport. On April 5, 1992, Bosnia declared its independence following a referendum and recognition by the UN. On April 6, 1992, Serbia invaded Bosnia and the siege began. The seige lasted more than 1,300 days (3-1/2 years), the longest one in modern history, even longer than the Nazi siege of Stalingrad. In addition to snipers firing from the mountain tops to the streets, more than 300 grenades were launched each day.  The Serbs spared nothing and no one. They even bombed a maternity hospital and killed two mothers and 20 newborns. This is the bombed hospital as it is today but a new one has been built elsewhere.

To survive, the citizens built a tunnel under the airport to obtain supplies and get medical aid, but it was not safe to escape this way.  I have this photo of the airport to illustrate how far it is from this next picture. This is an old house near a mountain, which was the exit for the tunnel near a supposed safe zone. The tunnel was built in 1993 in 4 months and 4 days. It is about 24,000 ft. long, 40 inches wide and about 5-1/2 ft. high.

We went through about 75 ft. of the tunnel which has been established as a museum. It still goes under the airport.

Afterwards, we drove to one of the mountaintops for a view of the area. In the distance you see what looks like a limestone outcropping.  But look closer: it is actually a mass of headstones - in 4 different sections - Catholic, Muslim, Orthodox Christian and Jewish.

From here we drove through the city looking at various structures and we drove passed the site of the 1984 Olympics, which was also bombed. We passed another cemetery, this one with the distinctive obelisk-like headstones of the Muslims.

We had a walking tour of the Old Town which took us past the 1896 City Hall done in a Turkish style, now partly a museum. We walked along the Miljacka River and to the bridge where Gavrilo Princip shot Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on June 28, 1914, thus fueling World War I. To the right of the bridge is a sliver of a pink building, now a museum, which was the cafe where Princip waited for the perfect moment. 

I asked our guide if Princip was a hero or a terrorist. She said it depends on who you ask, but the Serbs consider him a hero.

She walked us through the old town, pointing out mosques, cathedrals, orthodox churches and synogues, proving the multi-ethnicity of the city before the war. Even today there are 48% Bosnians (Muslims), 37% Serbs (Orthodox), and 14% Croats (Catholics).

Before she left us, we asked about her life. She was a toddler when the siege started and her father was injured in the war and treated outside the city. He arranged for her and her mother to obtain falsified documents and they all fled to Germany. However, in 1998, her father felt compelled to return to try to find his brother and they remained. After years of searching, her father found his brother's headstone. She wants to return to Germany where her job prospects are much better. Here she is on the left with one of our participants.

We had lunch at Pod Lipom in the old town and then free time. I walked by the bazaars and thought this photo of a grandma minding the baby while looking at her smart phone is ironic. I saw a woman getting water from the iconic fountain called Sebilj and then onto Marshall Tito blvd.  This lead to Markale Market, the site of a notorious bombing that killed dozens of shoppers. 

There is a small memorial in the back dedicated to those who lost their lives on May 2, 1994. It is still very much in use today.

Further down is the Memorial to the Children of Sarajevo which pays respect to the more than 1,600 children who were among the estimated 10,000 Sarajevans killed during the seige.

As I walked along the streets, I saw these scars in the sidewalk painted red. Mortar shells caused an indentation in the concrete that resembles a rose so they were filled with resin and called "Sarajevo roses" as a memorial.

I went to the Srebrenica Exhibition which chronicles the massacre in film and photos that occurred in that eastern Bosnian city over 8 days in July 1995 by the Army of Republika of Srpska and a paramilitary group from Serbia. More than 8,000 men and boys over 12 were rounded up and slaughtered just because their last names were Bosniaks or Muslim. The women and children were forced to leave. What makes this doubly horrific is that Srebrenica had been declared a "safe zone" in 1993 and many Bosniaks had fled to there. There were 300 UN troops from the Netherlands stationed there in a big complex but they did nothing to stop this atrocity. This lapse in judgement still haunts the UN today. There were photos and stories of many of the victims and how the survivors  search for remains. It reminded me somewhat of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, but much smaller (and with more victims).

Then it was time for dinner and a lecture by Muhamed Dzihic. Most of it focused on where things are today. B-H is about the size of West Virginia with 3.5 million people, having lost 1/2 million after the war due to death or immigration. The peace treaty signed in Dayton, Ohio, on Nov. 21, 1995, is also the constitution of the country. Basically the country is divided into 4 entities with 3 presidents, each representing one of the ethnicities - Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks. They rotate leadership every eight months and there is a legislative body of 214 representatives. However, all legislation must be approved by the European High Commissioner. Unfortunately, the entities rarely talk about unity and the Republic of Srpska (the eastern entity) has already expelled most of its Muslims.

Tomorrow we head to Serbia. Looking forward to comparing its story.