The gripping and poignant account of the survival of Sarajevo's
daily newspaper and the abiding ideal of peaceful coexistence that
it symbolizes. For over four years, working against material.
financial, and personal obstacles (the paper was eventually
produced out of the building's bomb shelter), the multiethnic staff
of Oslobodjenje kept their paper going. But Kurspahi??, its editor
in chief during the war, does more than just narrate their story.
He places his paper's struggle in the broader context of events in
the former Yugoslavia. This was not a civil war, he argues, but one
against civilians and their culture, a war against cosmopolitanism.
An early chapter covers the initial phase of the paper's
"liberation," which saw its transformation from a
Communist-controlled daily to one characterized by principles of
liberalism and pluralism, and a commitment to peaceful coexistence.
For the first time, its staff freely elected editors and selected
the stories they would cover, including regular reports on events
in other republics. At a time of poor communication and increasing
political control, Kurspahi??'s paper provided perhaps the last
true reflection of current events. Kurspahi?? captures how Sarajevo
blossomed, becoming "an arena for popular self-expression," an
antidote to the growing chauvinism and intolerance in other
republics. In the chapter on the paper in wartime, Kurspahi??
deftly interweaves the personal and professional, creating a clear
parallel between the enormous sacrifices made by Oslobodjenje's
staff to keep the paper going and the heroic efforts of Bosnia's
citizens to defend their homes, neighbors, and ideals. In the
process, he presents the dramatic and often tragic struggles of
colleagues, friends, strangers, and public figures. The war may be
over and the country divided, but, Kurspahi?? asserts, a unified
Bosnia and its culture will survive as long as the spirit of
Oslobodjenje "defends her essence and keeps faith with memory."
(Kirkus Reviews)
When Serbian nationalist forces began their siege of Sarajevo,
Kemal Kurspahic called together the editors, reporters and
production staff of the city's main newspaper, Oslobodenje, and
made a grim offer to those willing to work under relentless
artillery, tank and sniper fire.
Acting on their deepest beliefs, the reporters and editors of
Oslobodenje ("Liberation") literally risked their lives for their
readers and kept the daily paper of Sarajevo running against all
odds. Under the direction of Kemal Kurspahic, former
Editor-in-Chief of Oslobodenje, the paper was published on every
day but one throughout the 3 fi years of attack on the city by
extreme nationalist Serbs. Representing hope to a population
completely besieged, and upholding the ideals of tolerance, equal
rights, and free debate, Oslobodenje was an early prime target of
the Serb nationalists. Under constant artillery and mortar attack,
and often without electricity and phone, the Oslobodenje was "the
daily miracle of Sarajevo". Having had their ten-story building
reduced to rubble, and five of their colleagues killed and twenty
wounded, the staff shifted its editorial quarters and its presses
into a basement bomb shelter.
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