Remembering the siege of Sarajevo
Twenty years ago today, the siege of Sarajevo began. It was the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare lasting from from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 – a total of 1,335 days. The siege lasted three times longer than the siege of Stalingrad and a year longer than the siege of Leningrad in the Second World War.
It is estimated that nearly 10,000 people were killed or went missing in the city, including over 1,500 children. An additional 56,000 people were wounded, including nearly 15,000 children.
All this occurred in ‘civilsed’ Europe in the late 20th century after all we were supposed to have learned from the Second World War. It shows that ‘civilisation’ is a thin veneer and we must never take our liberties for granted.
In 2007, my sister and I visited Sarajevo and, although we were there as tourists, we learned and saw a lot relating to the siege. You can read my account of the trip here.