Remember Sarajevo

The people of Sarajevo have faced some unimaginably dark times in the recent past. During the Bosnian war, Sarajevo was held under siege from 1992-1996: the longest siege in modern European history. Reminders of the siege are everywhere, such as in street art, memorials, and plaques scattered throughout the city.

To provide some political context: the fall of Yugoslavia came with a rise in nationalism. Stoking ethnic tensions was a useful strategy for political leaders looking to fill the power vacuum. This was particularly devastating for the intercultural population of Bosnia & Herzegovina, which as of 1991, included a majority of Muslim Bosniaks (44%), a large minority of Orthodox Serbs (32.5%), and a small minority of Catholic Croats (17%).

One particularly nationalistic figure was the president of Serbia, Slobodan Milošević. Milošević’s goal was to claim large parts of former Yugoslavia for Serbia by forcibly removing non-Serbs from those territories. Another such leader was Radovan Karadžić, who led a Serbian faction within Bosnia (the Republika Srpska). His goal was to claim Bosnia as a Serbian state. Both of these men were later charged with international war crimes.

In April 1992, the Army of Republika Srpska – led by Karadžić and backed by Milošević – surrounded Sarajevo on all sides, cutting the citizens off from the rest of the world.

James and I visited the Siege of Sarajevo museum, which included detailed personal accounts from survivors of the siege. For four years, citizens lived under the constant threat of bombings and sniper attacks, and regularly risked their lives to fetch basic necessities like food and water. By the end of the siege, more than 11,000 civilians had been killed, including 1601 children. Most of the buildings in the city were also destroyed, including hospitals, schools, libraries and churches. One of the libraries that burned to the ground had contained thousands of original manuscripts – history lost forever.

Today, we went on a guided tour of relevant sights within the city. Here, our guide Adnan explains the significance of the roses of Sarajevo: mortar shell explosions that have been filled with red resin. Explosions are only memorialized in this way if they killed three or more people. There are more than 200 roses around the city.

Adnan also showed us the hospital he was born in. Or, what’s left of it. It’s overwhelming to think about how anyone from Sarajevo who’s older than 30 had to personally live through this war.

One of the key factors that helped Sarajevo survive – both the city and its citizens – is a tunnel that was constructed underneath the Sarajevo airport. This 800 meter long tunnel took four months of round-the-clock digging to complete, and was usable by summer of 1993. It was crucial for getting food, water, and other supplies into the city. Today, a small section of the tunnel has been made into a museum that you can visit.

The siege of Sarajevo was not the only atrocity committed by the Army of Republika Srpska during this time period. At a different museum, we also learned about the massacre in Srebrenica, in which over 8000 civilian men and boys were systematically murdered in the span of a week. Efforts to recover and identify the victims’ bodies are still underway today.

One narrative that really came through across the exhibits was the failure of the international community to step in and prevent civilian suffering. In some cases, the UN’s actions were worse than doing nothing at all, such as when they identified safe zones for refugees and then didn’t fortify or protect them, arguably leading refugees to their deaths.

I thought this photo was particularly powerful, in which a Muslim Bosniak woman is looking at a poster of Margot and Anne Frank. The parallels between the two wars – the systematic targeting of civilians with ethnic cleansing as the end goal – are clear.

Coming from Canada, I knew almost nothing about this war before visiting Bosnia. I hope that these recent historical tragedies eventually reach my country’s public consciousness, and that we can learn something from them.