"Olympic City, Olympic Tragedy " a Sarajevo Travel Page by american_tourister

I was assigned to come to Sarajevo and teach during August of 2003. This city is so different from anything else I have seen in Bosnia. It has a vibrant nightlife. It is cosmopolitan. It is BIG. It has an old history, a tragic history. It has been conquered many times over but it's saddest chapter is also it's latest.

So soon after Sarajevo was the center of world attention during the Olympics, it once again was the center of world attention because of the Bosnian War. What was the symbol of peace and understanding became the symbol of despair and suffering.

Of all the damage that is present the damage to the Olympic buildings and structures is probably the saddest. Most of these were on the front lines and were not only destroyed, but were also used as bunkers and sniper spots during the war.

What was built to commemorate peace and understanding was instead transformed into instruments of hatred and repression.

I love this photo of Sarajevo. A friend of mine recently sent it to me and I asked if I could use it here.

This is a crossroads of civilization. Armies and empires have marched through. Cultures have been built and then swept away by the tide of history. There are reminders everywhere that Sarajevo's past is a past of pain.

This monument was erected as a reminder of the suffering during WWII. It was a side show in a side show but the Partisan fight here was no quarter asked and none given. An entire division of SS was raised of Croats and Muslims. When they proved unreliable in battle they were sent back here to aid in the repression of the partisans. These people did not forget.

This group of apartments caught my eye while we were in town. Sarajevo is slowly being rebuilt. The economy has not recovered and that detracts from the efforts but it is getting more color. War has a way of making everything gray and brown.

This reminded me of the house colors in the Bahamas.