SURVIVAL MAP EDITORIAL

On April 5, 1992 Sarajevo, the capital of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was attacked. The city, which lies in the valley of the Miljacka River, is surrounded by mountains on which there were placed 260 tanks, 120 mortars and many weapons of smaller caliber. The Yugoslav National Army aided by the local terrorists encircled the city and started to tighten the circle around 500,000 citizens.

On May 2, 1992 the city was completely blockaded. A part of the city was occupied and the part which could not be conquered was exposed to a barrage of shelling and artillery fire. Every day the city was hit by some 4,000 shells and among the targets there were hospitals, libraries, museums, and the places where the citizens stood in lines for bread and water. The aggressor destroyed the Post Office and the city was left without telephones, and its water, gas and electricity supplies were cut. The food supply was disappearing quickly. The cemeteries were expanding.

On February 26, 1996 by opening the northwest passage, i.e. by liberating the Vogosca and Ilijas districts, Sarajevo was proclaimed an open city. After the Dayton Agreement and the coming of the IFOR, the aggressor started to leave the occupied territory around the city. They plundered, burnt and destroyed everything.

On March 19, 1996 the aggressor left the occupied district of the city - Grbavica - which was the last part of the city to be returned to the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the Dayton Agreement. 10,615 persons, out of whom 1,601 were children, were killed in Sarajevo. More than 50,000 persons were wounded, a great number of whom remain invalids. The siege of the city lasted from May 2, 1992 to February 26, 1996 or 1,395 days, which is the longest siege in the modern history of mankind.