SARAJEVO TI SI MOJA
DRAGA 
In the saber rattling
lead up to this war in the Ukraine a high ranking official in the United States
government mistakenly said that we have enjoyed peace for 70 years in Europe,
evidently forgetting the relative recent history of such conflicts as the
Troubles in Northern Ireland that lasted into the 90s, or the Romanian
revolution of the late 80s, or Prague Spring in 1968 or the 1956 Hungarian
Revolution or the Basque uprisings or the Coup d'etat in early 80s Spain, just
to mention a few.
GDJE JE TVOJ MOZAK?
That’s Bosnian for “Where
is your brain?”
This is not a political
rant though, but instead I want to offer a prayer for peace, especially as the
30th anniversary of the Bosnian Wars is approaching. In April 1992, full
scale hostilities broke out with Bosnia declaring itself independent of the
former Yugoslavia Republic, following Slovenia and Croatia the previous year. Bosnia
Serbs wanted to carve out for themselves Republika Srpska and create an
ethnically pure state apart from the Muslims they had lived with and
intermarried with for generations.
Before the war ended in
1995, horrific atrocities of genocide and ethnic cleansing were carried out. Sarajevo,
the thriving, multi-ethnic city and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina
endured the longest siege of a capital in modern warfare. From April 1992 for
1,452 days the city was blockaded and its citizens were assaulted by rockets,
mortars, artillery and snipers. By the time the Dayton Peace Accords were
signed over 5,000 civilians were killed. It was a horrible war and it
personally affected me.
EMBRACED BY THE WORLD
I fell in love with
Sarajevo the first time I visited the city for the 1984 Winter Olympics. I was
working for ABC-TV at the time and in the five months I was there I made a lot
of Yugoslavian friends.
They were all called
Yugoslavian then, not Slovenian or Croatian, Serbian or Bosnian, and Sarajevo
was the shining example of a peaceful metropolis. Yes, Sarajevo is where WWI
began, but the religious and cultural diversity of a city with mosques,
catholic and orthodox churches and synagogues practically next to each other,
where inter-faith relationships were given a shrug as they were a
non-threatening no issue was a glorious introduction to the world for this
young traveler. Sarajevo was an old city with a young heart, and for this young
man, despite being so far from home, Sarajevo became a part of me.
The enduring memory I
have of the coverage of the Sarajevo Olympics was the peaceful co-existence and
the pride everyone had in their country of Yugoslavia.
While working in Italy during
the summer of 1987 I took a quick three-day side-trip to Sarajevo to revisit my
friends. Who knew that as we laughed and drank and I brushed up on my cursing in Sarajevan slang that this peaceful world would
come so abruptly to an end a short time later!
EMBARRASSED
As aggressions intensified
in the Balkans, I was helpless. A young father with two young children now I
watched the news about Bosnia out of the corner of my eye as I changed diapers.
News of the war, the
atrocities, the ethnic cleansing, the horrors were met with disbelief. I sought
out my friends. I eventually found out one had fled with his family and
eventually settled in Zagreb. Another was in Moscow visiting before the war
broke out and could not return, but they had brothers and cousins “running
through the woods with a shotgun”. Others were stuck in Sarajevo, dodging the
mortars and sniper fire. The madness of it all was overwhelming and
embarrassing for me, because I knew I could not help, except offer a prayer for
peace.
SARAJEVO ROSES
 |
| A Sarajevo Rose |
Considering the horrors
of the Bosnian War; just google Srebrenica; Sarajevo has recovered, though
still bearing the scars of the siege. Sarajevo Roses dot the streets. They are
mortar craters filled with red resin to mark the impact.
Republika Srpska was
created and there is a tenuous peace between Bosnian Serbs and Bosniaks.
When we traveled to
Croatia in 2019, I went there with the guilt of not being able to help my friends,
even after the war ended. I didn’t dare go to Sarajevo, the ache is still
strong, but we stayed on the coast, sailing and staying with my friend Zeljko
and his wife Hana at their summer villa in Trpanj a beautiful little town on
the Peljesac Peninsula. They fled Sarajevo during the war and even aided in the
rescuing of children from the siege. They settled in Zagreb, and made a life
for themselves there. Many of their neighbors who also had their summer villas
in Trpanj were from Sarajevo. One was Serbian. Another lived in Iran for a while.
All spoke of Sarajevo being different again than the rest of Bosnia, multi-cultural,
vibrant and peaceful and they helped me brush up on my Sarajevo slang..
Pray for peace and
perhaps it will come.
Love Janet and greg
© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj.
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