Sarajevo


    On april 5, 1992 the capital of the rupublic of bosnia and herzogovina was attacked. The city lies in a valley surrounded by tall hills, which were occupied by the Serbs, who were attempting to create an ethnically pure state by killing or driving out all of the moslems and croats. by may 2, 1992 the city was almost completely blockaded. Every day for the length of the seige, shells rained down upon the city, and any cross walk with a clear view to the hills was a target zone. The siege lasted for 1395 days until february 26, 1996, which is the longest seige in the modern history of mankind. Of an original population of half a million, 2/3 had left by the end of the seige; 10,615 people had been killed, of which 1601 were children; and over 50,000 had been wounded.

    1 The Library
    this monumental building was built to be city hall. After WW2 it was turned into a national library, containing more than 1 million books, and a collection of unique moslem manuscripts and codex. On august 25, 1992, exactly 100 years after construction had started on the building, the shelling began from the hills that was to burn the library- and destroy most of its treasure of books. Sarajevans remember the next day by the rain of the ashes of books that came down from the sky     The fountain(sebilj)

    2 This fountain is one of the city symbols. during the seige it functioned soley as a symbol because there was no water flowing in any of its fountains.

    3 danger zones
    Every area in the city was a dangerous zone. At every moment, from all the places in the mountains that surround sarajevo, a sniper could find a target. The worst places were those directly in the line of fire. Bridges, crossroads and streets exposed to the mountains were places where the chance of getting shot was somewhat reduced if one was a fast runner

    4 Markets
    during the seige the markets were the only place people could get their necessities- as such they were a prime target for sniping and mortor attacks.

    5 snipers
    At the beginning of the seige the Yugoslav national Army and the SDS terrorists deployed their snipers in tall buildings and in the barracks to shot at civilians. Even when they were removed from the city the distance between city streets and the tall buildings on the hills in the occupied territory was sufficient to allow sniping. According to data gathared in 1995 the snipers had wounded 1030 and killed 225- including 60 children. Accounts were published in european newpapers of "war tourism" which included sniping in sarajevo. The Russian avant-garde writer was caught on camera indulging in this "enjoyable sport"

    6 Parks
    in 1992-3 the price of wood was 350DM per cubic meter. Parks were places where people got their wood and buried the dead.

    7 The Parliament
    The bosnian and herzogovinian parliment and gov't building was hit by hundreds of shells, which cause frequent fires. This is where the attack on the city began on april 6, 1992, when the SDS snipers opened fire on the 100.000 citizens who had gathered in front of the parliament to protest the national divisions and war. The event was transmitted and shown all over yugoslavia and according to many it represented the funeral of the yugoslav idea.

    8 the Markale market
    The covered market built in 1894-5 is often described as resembling a theater rather then a place where meat and vegatables are sold. During the seige its denizens were somewhat more protected then those in the open markets. The three most atrocious massacres of sarajevo civilians happened either near it or in front of it. In the last case, on august 28, 1995 a mortar shelled killed 41 and wounded another 85. this incident was the immediate cause of NATO airstrikes, the signing of the Dayton agreement and the gradual lifting of the siege.

    9 The Holiday inn
    before the siege the sarajevo hotel capacity was 490 beds, during the long seige the holiday inn was the only functioning hotel in the city.
    It was built during the winter olympics in 1984. On April 6, 1992 it was the location of the SDS terrorists who were shooting at the peace demonstration. It was one of the few hotels where the most prized rooms were those with out a view.

    10 oslobodenje
    In the summer of '92 the skyscraper was hit by incendiary shells. it was a favorite target of the serb artillery. Despite of this, the print plant in the basement produced papers on a dialy basis. journalist snuck in with news and out with bundles of newpapers that they then distibuted to the city.