Some People

July 8^th

Today we visited the old Jewish cemetery on the edge of the city, a deeply moving experience –seeing the Hebrew script etched into a thousand mostly modest stones that bear the marks of time with graves dating back to the 16^th century and continuing right up to the middle of the 20^th century which is a testament to how integrated this community was here in Sarajevo. The cemetery is a jumble of weeds, broken paths and fallen monuments, but not due to the desecration that can be found in many other jewish cemeteries in Europe. Instead, we learned that it was on the front line of fighting between Bosniaks and Serbs in the last war and many soldiers were killed on the spot while others used the gravestones for protection. It was the jewish dead who helped to save their old city.

We drove next to the opposite side of the city to an idyllic spot on a hill overlooking the entire valley. It was in this spot that Amir’s father spent 2 1/2 years in the trenches which are still visible  and which are surrounded by corpses of buildings still standing as horrific reminders of what happened there only 15 years ago. This spot used to be a forest but all the trees were cut down during the siege for fuel. Across the city sits another mountain that is off limits to visitors as it is still covered with thousands of land mines.

Globalization is just around the corner but it has not yet arrived here in Sarajevo, apart from the  Coca Cola signs, awnings and umbrellas to be found in every tavern and cafe. It is refreshing not to find the same old chain stores and global brands on every corner. Even though there are perhaps 20 kebab restaurants on each block, each one has its own unique characteristic with something special to offer and most everything is still family-owned. We want to believe that the people of this country will find the balance between developing their economy and keeping their rich culture intact.