Zlata's Diary

 

When I was 13 years old and living in Germany I read “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” for my Middle School English Class.

I had already read Anne’s Frank Diary before that class assignment and so my English Teacher suggested I read “Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo” and so I did. It was sort of for Extra Credit, but since I always got As or 100s (except in Math) I didn’t need any Extra Credit.

Zlata Filipović is considered the “Anne Frank Who Lived” since both wrote Diaries during Wartime and with 1 side trying to kill them (the German Nazis killed Anne and the Bosnian Serbs tried to kill Zlata.)

Zlata Filipović was born on December 3, 1980 in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Yugoslavia the only Child of Malik (a Lawyer) and Alicia (a Biochemist.)

Zlata started her Diary in 1991 (during peacetime) unlike Anne (who started her Diary in 1942 – 2 years into the German Occupation of the Netherlands.)

Before the War she took tennis and piano lessons and liked pizza and American Movies.

When Bosnia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1992 the Yugoslavs (the Bosnian Serbs and the Serbs Living in Serbia) lay Siege of its Capital Sarajevo (where Zlata lived.)

The Siege of Sarajevo lasted from April 2, 1992 – February 29, 1996 (3 years, 10 months 3 weeks and 3 days) and killed 13,952 in the City.

"Today was truly, absolutely the worst day ever in Sarajevo," began her entry of May 2, 1992, which was now addressed to an imaginary friend called "Mimmy." By this time, the constant gunfire had forced the Family into the dark, smelly, rat-infested cellar.

 "We listened to the pounding shells, the shooting, the thundering noise overhead," she continued. "We even heard planes. At one moment, I realized that this awful cellar was the only place that could save our lives. Suddenly, it started to look almost warm and nice. We heard glass shattering in our street. Horrible. I put my fingers in my ears to block out the terrible sounds."

Zlata wrote about the War and the Siege for 2 years.

She wrote about the hardships of living without gas, electricity, or water, and subsisting on United Nations food packages.

She mourned the death of her 11-year-old friend Nina, who was hit by shrapnel that lodged in her brain ("I cry and wonder why? She didn't do anything.") and denounced the politicians ("Ordinary people don't want this division because it won't make anyone happy, not the Serbs, not the Croats, not the Muslims.)

In the Summer of 1993 was published and by December 1993 the United Nations evacuated her Parents and Herself from War torn Sarajevo to France where she lived for 1 year before moving to Dublin, Ireland (where she still lives.)

She studied at Trinity College and then at Oxford.

Living in Germany during the Wars in the Former Yugoslavia I saw a lot of the War on TV (the Concentration Camps, the Massacres, the Sieges, etc.) as well as seeing all the Refugees in-person.

I helped organize Donations (Food, Clothes, Toys, etc.) for the Refugees.

My Dad was also a Peacekeeper in both Croatia and in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

I was finally able to go to Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro in December 2010 – with my Mom.