Roses of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina

Throughout the city, you come upon “Sarajevo roses”. Each rose marks where a mortar shell exploded, leaving a hole in the sidewalk which has been filled with a red resin to resemble splattered blood. They serve as a remembrance to those killed during the siege.  We ended the tour at the Wartime Memorial to the Children of Sarajevo honoring the 1,600 children killed during the war.

The next day after breakfast at our hotel we crossed the Miljacka river and explored the southern bank. We found the Ashkenazi synagogue which was open in the mornings.  Built in 1902 in a neo-Moorish style it is quite impressive and is the only functioning synagogue in Sarajevo now.

We then walked up the hill to the Brewery which during the siege provided the only reliable source of water for citizens until the Tunnel was completed. You see the numerous bullet holes in the walls of the buildings and houses, and realize how close the mountains are to the houses making the civilians easy targets for the snipers.  Trying to survive was so dangerous.  We walked back into the city past the renovated Moorish style City Hall which was to be opened later that month as part of the commemoration of the 100 year anniversary of the beginning of World War 1.

We stopped at the old Serbian Orthodox church which dates from the 5th century and was later rebuilt in the 14th century.   It’s small but has impressive icons.

Unfortunately, the political situation in Bosnia and Hercegovina is complex and detrimental for the growth of the country. While the 1995 Dayton accord officially ended the war, it set up a Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina and the Bosnian Serb Republic or Republika Srpska each with its own president and government. Also, there is a rotating presidency all of which has virtually brought the country to a standstill, making it difficult to make a full recovery from the war. Driving into Bosnia and Hercegovina from Croatia it is apparent that this country has a lot of catching up to do to be economically on a par with the other former Yugoslav countries.

I vividly recall watching the XIV Winter Olympics held in Sarajevo in 1984 and how beautiful the city was with the fresh snow covering Pigeon Square with its ornate drinking fountain in the old Turkish quarter. Although I thoroughly enjoyed Sarajevo and would definitely go back, I was saddened to see that the city has not yet returned to the splendor it had 30 years ago at the time of the Olympics.

If you visit Sarajevo, I highly recommend two books that capture the impact of the Bosnian war on the residents of Sarajevo.  The first is The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, a novel that follows a cellist who plays for 22 days, each day at the same time and place, to honor 22 civilians who were killed in the marketplace while waiting for bread.  The other book   Logavina Street: Life and death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood, is written by Barbara Demick, a journalist who tells the story of the Bosnian war through the lives of ordinary citizens who lived in Sarajevo.

Excerpt from my article, Mountains, a monastery, and reminder of war – a self-drive tour of the Balkan countries, published in the September, 2015 issue of International