Sarajevo: Remembering a Tragically Interrupted Childhood in Tahtali Sokak Street

Sarajevans marked the 23rd anniversary of the death of six and wounding of three fellow citizens in Tahtali sokak 10 in Bjelave (formerly Jelena Vitas Street), reports the Patria news agency.

On that fateful day in 1992, while playing, Belma Ahmetović (5), Anela Isanović (4) and Dževad Dautbašić (9) were killed, as well as three other adult members of one family: Franjica Bartolec, her daughter Azra and son-in-law Miroslav Vapetić.

Representatives of the Parents of Murdered Children of Sarajevo, the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo, and friends and neighbours laid flowers in front of the memorial plaque on Saturday and paid tribute to the victims by reciting the Fatiha and observing a minute of silence.

Fikret Grabovica, president of the Association of Parents of Murdered Children, said it is difficult to find adequate words on such occasions.

- Today we are here to preserve the truth and memory of the victims from oblivion – said Grabovica.

- It is especially important that we pass on the truth about the past war to younger generations who do not learn the facts about the past war from history textbooks. Our obligation is to tell young people what their peers experienced during the longest siege of a city in modern European history and that children were killed in a planned and systematic manner, as evidenced by many proofs, most often while playing and often by sniper fire – he added.

The flower-laying ceremony was also attended by Hava, the mother of the murdered boy Dževad, who said that every mother's tear is a prayer that this never happens to anyone again. Students of the second grade of the Secondary Dental Technology School from Sarajevo also attended the tribute.

On behalf of the Centar Municipality, flowers were laid by Mustafa Resić, advisor to the municipal mayor, and Ibrahim Burazerović, coordinator for local communities.

- On behalf of the municipal mayor Dževad Bećirević and the Centar Municipality, I wish to express our deepest condolences to the parents and relatives of the murdered children at this place and throughout Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, who, in a brutal tragedy during the greatest drama in our history, gave their youth and deprived us of part of the future progress of Sarajevo. May their innocence and love for them unite us in goodness and may we always remember them - said Resić.

For the 11,500 killed citizens of besieged Sarajevo, including 1,600 children, the Hague Tribunal has so far sentenced only two criminals, Stanislav Galić and Dragomir Milošević, to multi-year prison terms.