Bosnia part 3 - Sarajevo: two wars and Olympic games
“Sarajevo is known for two wars and for the 1984 Olympics,” our guide Neno tells us. “We hope to have other Olympic games to at least bring that equal. "
Neno, guide in Sarajevo.
To visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is indeed to see the war up close. It was here that World War I began in 1914, during theassassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Habsburg. But it is above all the bosnia and herzegovina war which remains present in all the memories and buildings of the city.
Neno, who is now a tour guide in his hometown, was a child during this war which lasted from 1992 to 1995. For forty-four months he lived in a basement with his mother and several other families, in order to 'avoid daily bombardments.
Like many people, I knew the name of this war but I did not really know the causes.
The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina
After educating myself a little more, I understood what my friends in northern Bosnia meant when they insisted that we were in Republika Srpska (pronounced Seurska), rather than in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After the fall of communism in 1989, a nationalist movement also won over Yugoslavia. Within this country, there were Croats, Bosnians * and Serbs in particular. And in the center, what is today Bosnia-Herzegovina, and which includes these three peoples at the same time. Consequently, several neighboring peoples and countries fought for the same territory.
The country of Bosnia and Herzegovina is today separated into two regions: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, so called after the name of an ancient medieval duchy (Herzog meaning duke in old German), and the Serbian Republic of Bosnia ( or Republika Srpska). This republic within the country was formalized in the constitution of 1995. Its inhabitants today consider themselves to be even more Serbs than Bosnians.
The hills of Sarajevo.
The valley where Sarajevo is located had the misfortune of being at the epicenter of all these territories. The guide Neno explained to us that the Serbs surrounded the city, posted on the mountains around. Within this large circle was a smaller one, made up of the inhabitants of Sarajevo defending their city. And inside, the inhabitants themselves, caught in this blockade. Every day, the Serbs of the Republika threw shells at the town, so that the latter would eventually surrender by itself, exhausted. Even today, traces of bullets and shrapnel are found on several buildings in the city. Many buildings have never been rebuilt or repaired. The city never surrendered until its liberation by NATO forces.
Buildings destroyed in the heart of the capital.
One of the many buildings in the capital damaged by war shells.
If only for a few hours, speaking with a man like Neno who has known this war so closely and who remains surprisingly positivist is inspiring. A special anecdote is when he shares with us the first time he ate chocolate. It was so rare during the blockade that her mother had to sell her gold earrings to be able to give her some. Neno says he'll remember that first bite that tasted like heaven his whole life. He then separated the rest of his bar with his basement friends.
Reconstruction
The Avaz Twist Tower, 172 meters high including its antenna.
Twenty years after the war, Sarajevo still retains marks of it, but it is gradually going up. Capitalism replaces communist architectural atrocities. And the old buildings are replaced by new ones. Including the only skyscraper in the city, the Avaz Twist Tower.
Neno is aware of foreign policy and asks me questions about Quebec referendums. Finally, he has to admit that our internal bickering is not as intense as his.
Imagine, since 1995, the country is ruled by a virat trium. Each of the peoples elects its president, namely a Serb, a Croat and a Bosnian, and these three presidents are equal to each other. In order for a decision to be made, therefore, at least a two-to-one is necessarily required, which does not help in decision-making or the avoidance of conflicts.
- Unbelievable! How can a system like this work ?, I ask.
- It doesn't work, sighs Neno.
Capitalism alongside the communist past.
For two men who play chess, twenty give them advice.
The flag of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia.
Despite the years that have passed and the positivism of the capital, I am however disturbed to note that racism and intolerance are still widespread in the country. Everywhere in my path are flags of the republika. And above all, I hear murderous phrases like "we still hate the Bosniaks, nothing has changed".
I would like to believe in reconciliation but I am afraid to suspect that the borders were drawn too quickly in order to stop a massacre, but not definitively solving the problem of cohabitation.
I am happy to have had the chance to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina. I lived there several adventures, met noble hearts, people who hope, and I saw incredible mountain landscapes.
I wish Neno new Olympic games. But above all, I wish all of us to understand that our geographical origin, our language or our religion are never worth not knowing and respecting each other.
* Note: The Bosnian is the inhabitant of the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He may be of Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian or other origin. the Bosnian is the historical inhabitant of this region, but of Muslim faith.
