September 14 - Bomb Damage in Bosnia-Hercegovina
I guess Yugoslavia wasn't a long enough name for these guys, so they
called their country
Bosnia-Hercegovina.
WHAT'S WITH THE LONG NAME?
Back in the 15th century Herceg (Duke) Stjepan Vukcic ran the show. So
they named
Hercegonia after him. I guess Hercegonia is a better than a literal
translation which
would be "Dukeland."
I'm not sure how Bosnia came up with its name, but the country is made
up of these two
regions. Hence, Bosnia-Hercegovina, or just Bosnia for lazy people like
me.
NOW BOSNIA GETS ITS TWO CENTS
If you managed to read my last book, I mean, email, then you have a bit
of a background
on what happened in Bosnia. After visiting Serbia, I figured I'd now
get the Bosnian
perspective. This story is so complicated, but I'm determined to
understand it and hear
all sides. Just getting to Sarajevo (the capital of Bosnia) was a
lesson in the aftermath
of the war.
I had to pay off a bus driver in Belgrade, Serbia to get on the bus.
Earlier that day I
had bought a ticket for the 10PM bus. Turns out the ticket seller
didn't understand my
crappy Serbian and sold me a ticket for the 10AM bus. The bus driver
told me to refund
the ticket (where I get 90% of the value) and then give him the cash.
He pocketed the
cash and let me board the overbooked bus.
I sat next to Marco, an Italian polyglot, for the 8 hour overnight
ride. Marco, Maria (a
Swede), and I toured much of Sarajevo together. When we arrived, we
realized that we far
from the city center. Kinda stupid, we thought. The reason was that we
were in the Serb
Republic in Bosnia.
SERB REPUBLIC IN BOSNIA
Near any border, there is almost always an overlap with the neighboring
country. For
example, many Mexicans live in the US communities that border Mexico.
The legal ones are
called Mexican Americans.
Same goes for Bosnia. You had many Serbs living in Bosnia. Hence, the
term Bosnian Serb.
These Bosnian Serbs (who are Christian Orthodox) felt greater affinity
to Serbia than to
Bosnia (who are mostly Muslim or Catholic). So when Bosnia demanded
independence from
Yugoslavia, the Bosnian Serbs disagreed and started a war over it.
Slobodan Milosevic, leader of Serbia, was happy to support the Bosnian
Serbs, because he
wanted to expand Serbia's size. He figured that if Serbs dominate a
certain region in
Bosnia, then that region should become part of Serbia.
That's like Fidel Castro telling the US that Miami should be part of
Cuba, since mostly
Cubans live there. OK, to make that analogy work you have to pretend
that the Miami
Cubans would also want to be part of Cuba. And that's a bit of a
stretch of the
imagination.
But the Bosnian Serb region wasn't contiguous, so the Serbs (with
Milsoevic's support)
proceeded to clean out the area of those who weren't like them. Those
who were not
Orthodox had to go or be killed. That's like the Cubans of Miami
forcing out everyone in
southern Florida who can't dance well.
The Bosnian Serbs succeeded and today there is a contiguous region that
is 95% Serbs.
That region is called the
Serb Republic of Bosnia. Although part of
Bosnia, it is quite independent, yet not part of Serbia.
That's the result of the 1995 Dayton Accords. Why they went to Ohio to
settle this Balkan
dispute is a mystery to me.
THEY STILL DON'T GET ALONG
We thought the bus from Belgrade would put us in the center of
Sarajevo. Instead it left
us on the outskirts of Sarajevo, which is in the Serb Republic. Why
can't they drop us
off at the city center? Because the Serbs and non-Serbs still hate each
other so much
that they can't even share a stupid bus station!
None of the ATMs in the Serb Republic accepted the cards from a Swede,
an Italian, and an
American. So we took a taxi and paid in Euros to make the final couple
of miles to
Sarajevo.
SIEGE ON SARAJEVO
Sarajevo is beautiful city nestled among mountains. Wood panelled shops
line a nice
pedestrian street. What makes the city cool is that it's a perfect
blend of Muslim,
Catholic, and Orthodox religions. For instance, I walked into Christian
Churches and
while having a drink I heard a Muslim on a Islamic mosque minaret
announcing the call to
prayer.
I encourage you to visit, especially during the winter. I can see that
it was a great
location for the 1984 Winter Olympics. Sadly, ten years later Sarajevo
would be a victim
of the longest siege in the history of modern warfare.
The siege of Sarajevo lasted from 1992 to 1995. It was fought between
the forces of the
Bosnian government (who had declared independence from Yugoslavia) and
Serbian
paramilitaries (who sought succession from the newly-independent
Bosnia).
An estimated 12,000 people were killed and another 50,000 wounded
during the siege. I saw
all the new grave stones near the Sarajevo stadium. It's a sobering
site.
An average of approximately 329 shell impacts per day during the course
of the siege,
with a high of 3,777 shell impacts on July 22, 1993.
They have painted
the shells on the
streets, so now they look like flowers.
I walked down "Sniper Alley" where they are still plenty of signs of
artillery holes.
This is as close as I've been to a war zone. If you pay attention the
war scars still dot
the city, but it's peaceful now.
During the siege Sarajevo citizens had to cut down cut down and burned
park trees and
benches to keep warm during the winter. How did they eat?
THE SECRET TUNNEL
Using just simple shovels, the Sarajevo civilians dug a 1km tunnel out
to the airport to
get supplies from the Red Cross.
You can check out just the first 20
meters/yards of the
tunnel today.
This was the life line to those who were stuck in the city. NATO
bombings finally ended
the siege. Here's a case when a country was dying for the US to intervene, but we took
our time.
THE AFTERMATH
In a way, the Bosnian Serbs got what they wanted. The Serb Republic in
Bosnia is almost
its own country, although they share the Bosnian currency. They evicted
all the non-Serbs
out of their region. The only thing they didn't get was being able to
part of Serbia.
Although the Dayton Accords said that everyone has a right to return to
their original
house, few do. After all, if you were a Muslim or Catholic would you
move into the
Serbian Republic of Bosnia after that war? Let's just say you might not
feel too welcome.
Meanwhile, the Bosnians returned the favor and forced most Serbs out of
the areas in
Bosnia where they were a small minority. Those innocent Serbs also
aren't too keen to
return to their former homes.
All this fighting for basically one reason: religious intolerance. They
speak the same
language, they look the same, and they're all nice to me.
My education in the Balkans continues....
NEXTALE: CAVORTING IN CROATIA |
I met Maria (Swedish) and Marcos (Italian) on an overnight bus ride from
Belgrade, Serbia to Sarajevo, Bosnia. We were a bit tired, but I found
enough energy to tour the town while they slept. We met at the end of
the day to take this picture, have dinner, and then they walked me to
the train station. I thought I would never seen them again, but I was
wrong. Read the next tale to see how we all met
again by chance... |
