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Witness History

Sarajevo’s haven of peace

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.41.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 August 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After the collapse of former Yugoslavia, Bosnian Serb forces laid siege to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, in 1992. More than a quarter of a million people lived under almost constant bombardment and sniper fire for more than four years. Over 10,000 were killed. Hunger and destitution took hold quickly. So, a small Jewish charity stepped in to provide essential food and medicine and evacuate elderly people and children from all sides of the conflict. In peace time, Sarajevo’s Jewish community had maintained good relations with Bosnian Muslims, Serbs and Croats. This enabled them to provide a haven of peace for everyone. In this episode, Jacky Rowland hears from Jakob Finci, who was the vice president of the Jewish community at the time. Part of their motivation, he says, was that many Jews in Sarajevo had been sheltered by Bosnian Muslims during the Nazi occupation in the 1940s. This is a CTVC production for the BBC World Service. (Photo: members of the Jewish community being evacuated by bus to Croatia in 1993. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, I'm Hannah and I'm very excited to be hosting What in the World, a new daily podcast

0:06.2

from the BBC World Service, where we try to help you make sense of the world around you,

0:11.3

of the big things that are happening, the small things that are happening and everything

0:15.2

in between.

0:16.2

Search for What in the World, wherever you get your BBC podcasts and hit subscribe.

0:30.2

Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service, first-hand

0:36.1

accounts from the people who were there.

0:38.6

I'm Jackie Rowland and today we're going back to the time of the Bosnian War, which broke

0:44.2

out in 1992 after the collapse of communism in former Yugoslavia.

0:50.2

In April that year Bosnian Serb forces laid siege to the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

0:56.9

It was to become the longest siege in modern European history.

1:01.9

The city has been under almost constant bombardment.

1:04.9

The firing has gone both ways since it is not defenseless, but we have watched as the

1:09.1

Serbs in effect walked their mortar fire across Sarajevo and onto the old town.

1:16.4

More than a quarter of a million people lived under heavy bombardment and sniper fire for

1:21.7

nearly four years, over 10,000 were killed.

1:26.0

And the best count we have, there are 52,000 children trapped in this hellhole.

1:32.4

The business of Sarajevo is survival.

1:35.0

Its people have neither hope of escape nor thought of surrender.

1:40.7

The three main groups involved in the war were Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Muslims.

1:46.9

But there was a fourth ethnic and religious group in Sarajevo, the small Jewish community.

1:52.9

Jakob Finci was its vice president at the time.

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