Zlata's Diary

This is the name of a historical neighborhood in Sarajevo where several mosques, synagogues, and Orthodox churches coexist, symbolic of Bosnia’s potential for peace and reconciliation. It was one of the first areas targeted by artillery fire. Zlata fearfully describes the neighborhood’s destruction by shelling on April 6, 1992, the official start of the war.

This is a political term of mixed connotation that since the Bosnian War has become a political pejorative and slur against ethnic Serbs. The name was first used by the loose association of Serbian nationalist guerilla forces that resisted German occupation and Croat collaboration in WWII and that later fought against the socialist Yugoslav Partisans in a civil war.

After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Serbian nationalists used the term in reference to various paramilitary groups working to further the agenda of the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska. Zlata uses the term as a political distinction in reference to unspecified forces working with the Serbian nationalists.

Crnotina is suburb of Sarajevo and historical landmark where Zlata’s family owns a summer house with a 150-year-old tower, which Zlata describes fondly at the beginning of her diary. Occupying forces burn the place to the ground, killing their neighbors in the attack.

The mark was the standard unit of German currency before the official adoption of the euro. The war devalued Bosnian currency, and eventually the only items left in the city went for sale on illegal markets for foreign money.

Located in southern Croatia, Dubrovnik sits on the Adriatic Sea near the Bosnia-Herzegovina border. In 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence, the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNS) laid siege to the city. In precaution against fallout, the Bosnia initially sent troops to the border and required men such as Zlata’s father to report for reserve duty. The family’s close friend, Srdjan, is caught in the city during the siege but lives through the ordeal.

Located in neutral Switzerland, Geneva was the location of many failed attempts at political reconciliation between Bosnia and the Republica Srpska. Zlata uses the city as a general reference to a series of peace talks, each of which she feels are destined to fail.

This district of Sarajevo sits on the west bank of the river Miljacka. Zlata’s mother works in the area and must cross the bridge under threat of sniper fire daily to get to work. Occupying forces eventually raze the area and expel residents, resulting in an influx of refugees to Zlata’s neighborhood.

This is a type of sweet pastry cake made of dense and slightly gritty dough, baked or fried and then soaked in syrup. Of Turkish origin and often made during the feasting holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Ahda, they are a traditional celebration cake in Bosnia. The family continues to make them for special occasions during the war, using whatever ingredients they can to approximate the favored sweet. Not only do they bring a measure of joy, but they also illustrate the intermingling of cultures in Sarajevo. 

This Olympic Mountain overlooking Sarajevo became a military base for the VRS during the Siege of Sarajevo. Prior to the war, the ski resort on the mountain was one of Zlata’s favorite places.

UNPROFOR agents distributed water in jerrycans, durable containers of metal or plastic named for their German origins. Zlata poses with a pile of jerrycans, the only reliable source of water in Sarajevo, for a Spanish photographer at the promotion of her diary.

This river cuts Sarajevo in half. Zlata’s family lives on one side while her mother’s work and parents are on the other. Crossing the river is so hazardous due to sniper fire that Zlata waits months before crossing to visit her grandparents.

Initially a safe district due to proximity to UN safe zones, occupying forces eventually invaded and razed the suburb. Zlata’s uncle and his family escaped the terror separately, losing everything but each other. This event contributed to a growing internal refugee crisis in Sarajevo.