Destruction and Reconstruction

Frankly, I don’t fully understand the complexities of the war in Bosnia of the early 1990s. And perhaps it can’t ever be fully understood.

The country of Bosnia and Hercegovina is unique in that it sits on the meeting ground of three ethnicities and religions: the Muslim Bosnians (43%), Orthodox Christan Serbs (31%) and Catholic Croats (17%) all live intermingled. To make a long story short, all three groups fought each other from ’91-’95 and changed alliances at various points, the neighboring warring countries of Serbia and Croatia of course played a large part, and various atrocities were committed on all sides.

In some areas, like the city of Mostar, the ethnic split ran right down the center of the city, with the front line directly through the center of town. Take a look at the first two images below. They’re of the same street. The first one was taken in the mid-90s. The second one I took (we actually stayed in that green building on the left). And the third image is of that street at night from the other direction. Tensions remain to this day, but you can see in further images how the buildings are slowly being renovated, the contrast between still in ruin and all fixed up often glaring.

Not even an hour away is the pilgrimage site of Medugorje, where in the early 80s a group of teenagers first saw an apparition of Mary. Millions of Catholics from around the world come here to pray every year.

Further below, the famous curved bridge of Mostar has been fully reconstructed after its destruction during the war, and at the end the last three pictures from the capital city of Sarajevo, which went from winter Olympics host in 1984 to bombed out city under siege, shelling and sniper fire less than 10 years later.

Bosnia has not resolved all of its tensions, but is a country on the mend. With beautiful scenery, pretty cities and welcoming people, one hopes they’ll successfully put a difficult past behind them to continue to embrace a more peaceful and hopeful future.