Journalist Eric Hauck presented a book about the Siege of Sarajevo in Barcelona

(Patria) - Catalan journalist Eric Hauck, who was declared an honorary citizen of Sarajevo on February 28, presented his book “Desmemòria letal” about the first days of the siege in Barcelona, at a very emotional event where tribute was paid to the victims of the 1,425-day aggression against our city of Sarajevo.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the end of the siege, Hauck publicly recounted his arrival in Sarajevo as a reporter for the Catalan newspaper Avui in late April 1992, when the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina had not yet attracted the attention of the international press.

The journalist arrived accompanied by a photographer, also very young, Jordi Pujol Puente (25 years old), who was killed by aggressor forces on May 17 in an attack on Soukbunar Street. Pujol was the first foreign journalist to die in the war and, for his work in defending the truth about the siege, was posthumously awarded the title of honorary citizen of the city of Sarajevo in 2022. His loss shook the Catalan city, which was then preparing to host the Olympic Games in Barcelona. This event sparked a wave of solidarity between Catalans and Bosnians that continues to this day.

In his book, Hauck preserved the photographs that Jordi took on the fateful days of May 2 and 3 and precisely recalls how a helpless Sarajevo was able to repel the aggression practically without weapons. At the event in Barcelona, Hauck explained that it took him all this time to write about those days “because journalists are never the protagonists of our stories,” but he believes it is necessary to do so now because “the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, unfortunately, reveal to us that world powers have learned nothing from the genocide in Bosnia nor from the great lesson of resilience that Sarajevo gave us.”

The Catalan journalist and diplomat – who represented the city of Barcelona during the reconstruction projects of Mojmilo and Zetra, and also as a delegate of the Government of Catalonia during the Olympic bid phase for the Winter Games and the establishment of a direct air link with Girona – will return to our city for the April 6 ceremony. His book will soon be translated into our language and is expected to be available by the end of 2026.