Online museum launches on 20th anniversary of Sarajevo siege
A "virtual museum" depicting the deadly siege of Sarajevo, the longest in the history of modern warfare, is due to be launched Thursday, organisers said.
The exhibit will be unveiled at www.famacollection.org to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the start of Bosnia's 1992-1995 interethnic war, in which more than 100,000 people were killed and nearly half Bosnia's pre-conflict population of 4.3 million fled their homes.
In the 44-month siege of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, more than 10,000 people were killed, many by sniper and rocket fire.
"It is a history that relates our resistance facing an invisible enemy. We were moving targets who had only one principle: to remain in the city, because we did not have any other choice," site creator Suada Kapic said.
The exhibit compiles thousands of interviews war with Sarajevo inhabitants and political and military officials, recorded during the war, as well as videos and photos.
Kapic said the "strategy of that terror was planned to psychologically break" the citizens of Sarajevo.
"But we did not yield. In four years, the citizens of Sarajevo have proved that they were the winners," she said.
The initiative precedes construction of a real museum in 2014 in the centre of Sarajevo.
"This museum will have a crucial role for future generations. It will be a memory and a warning which will remind us of importance of peace," Bosnian director Dino Mustafic said.
(c) 2012 AFP
