Two occupations, two defenses: April 6th, Sarajevo City Day

(Patria) - The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina was liberated from Nazi occupation on April 6, 1945, and on the same day 25 years ago, it was attacked by aggressor forces consisting of Yugoslav People's Army troops and Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces, writes the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

This day is celebrated as Sarajevo City Day. On the same day in 1992, the then European Community recognized the renewed independence of BiH.

However, much blood had to be shed to defend that independence and statehood during the four-year aggression, in which Sarajevo was under complete siege for 1,450 days. According to the official historical version, Sarajevo was liberated from the fascist occupier on April 6, 1945, and the Yugoslav Army began the operation to liberate Sarajevo on March 28, 1945.

The second, third, and fifth corps, the 11th and 13th Krajina brigades, the 18th Central Bosnian Brigade, and artillery and tank units participated in the operations. After fierce fighting on April 6, 1945, the resistance of the Germans and members of the NDH was broken, and Sarajevo was liberated. By the end of this operation, on April 10, Visoko, Kakanj, and Busovača were also liberated.

In the anti-fascist struggle, according to official data from 1941 to 1945, 10,961 citizens of Sarajevo gave their lives. 412 Bosniaks, 106 Croats, 7,092 Jews, 1,427 Serbs, and 16 Montenegrins, one Macedonian, five Slovenes, and 12 others perished.

But, 47 years later, Sarajevo began another battle against an aggressor with the same methods, goals, and ideology. From the beginning of the aggression and siege on April 5, 1992, until July 31, 1995, at least 11,541 civilians were killed, died of hunger, cold, or disappeared in Sarajevo, of whom 1,598 were children.

The material damage that the city suffered during the aggression and siege, primarily through the destruction of housing stock and the devastation of cultural heritage, economic facilities, and transportation routes, is immeasurable, writes NAP.