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January 1996

Chronology → Video Oral History

The Siege of Sarajevo 1992–1996

This Interactive FAMA Project integrates the documented chronology of the Siege of Sarajevo with first-hand testimonies within a single interface.

The material can be explored month by month by selecting any point between March 1992 and March 1996. For each chosen month, the user can review the corresponding textual chronology alongside video oral history interviews from the same period. By aligning the chronology of events with personal experiences, the platform enables a more layered, contextual exploration of how the siege unfolded over time.

The Siege of Sarajevo: Chronology 1992-1996

Compiled shortly after the war, this comprehensive chronology of the Sarajevo siege covers the period from March 1992 to March 1996. Structured by month and year, it draws on articles from the "Oslobođenje" newspaper, UN archives, reports from foreign correspondents, and citizen testimonies to document key social, political, military, cultural, and personal events of that time. By recording major developments and everyday survival, the chronology remains a vital reference for understanding how the siege unfolded and transformed every aspect of city life.

Oral History: The Siege of Sarajevo 1992-1996, video

Structured chronologically and thematically, this is the first and largest video oral history of the Sarajevo siege in the world, featuring nearly 1,000 interviews with over 450 citizens from diverse backgrounds. Produced soon after the war, it presents personal testimonies covering all aspects of life in the besieged city. This 30-hour collection serves as both an educational resource and a historical record, offering future generations an unparalleled insight into first-hand accounts of the longest urban siege in modern history.

Chronology → Video Oral History

The Siege of Sarajevo 1992–1996

This Interactive FAMA Project integrates the documented chronology of the Siege of Sarajevo with first-hand testimonies within a single interface.

The material can be explored month by month by selecting any point between March 1992 and March 1996. For each chosen month, the user can review the corresponding textual chronology alongside video oral history interviews from the same period. By aligning the chronology of events with personal experiences, the platform enables a more layered, contextual exploration of how the siege unfolded over time.

The Siege of Sarajevo: Chronology 1992-1996

Compiled shortly after the war, this comprehensive chronology of the Sarajevo siege covers the period from March 1992 to March 1996. Structured by month and year, it draws on articles from the “Oslobođenje” newspaper, UN archives, reports from foreign correspondents, and citizen testimonies to document key social, political, military, cultural, and personal events of that time. By recording major developments and everyday survival, the chronology remains a vital reference for understanding how the siege unfolded and transformed every aspect of city life.

Oral History: The Siege of Sarajevo 1992-1996, video

Structured chronologically and thematically, this is the first and largest video oral history of the Sarajevo siege in the world, featuring nearly 1,000 interviews with over 450 citizens from diverse backgrounds. Produced soon after the war, it presents personal testimonies covering all aspects of life in the besieged city. This 30-hour collection serves as both an educational resource and a historical record, offering future generations an unparalleled insight into first-hand accounts of the longest urban siege in modern history.

Chronology

  • Bono Vox, frontman of the group U2, celebrates New Year's in Sarajevo.
  • The future of Bosnia not only depends on IFOR and high politics, but also on whether Santa Claus will survive.
  • The Baptist Church in Sarajevo: "We preach love and only love."
  • Kozyrev dismissed from duty.
  • The former French President François Mitterrand dies at 79 years of age. He was in office in France from 1981 - 1995.
  • Instead of receiving them from Santa Claus, children in Ilidza receive their gifts from the Civil Defense.
  • The tram in Sarajevo is shelled. One person killed, 19 passengers injured.
  • The "air bridge" is closed after three and a half years, the longest in history. The Sarajevo "air bridge" involves 13,000 flights and delivered 160,677 tons of humanitarian aid. Twenty countries participate. Airplanes transport thousands of journalists.
  • "Path of fear," the road through the recently reintegrated areas of Sarajevo and Ilidza.
  • In the city's parks and green areas of Sarajevo this year gardens will not be allowed to be sown.
  • U.S. State Department: In Bosnia, there are between 15 and 20 mass graves. The Serbs are responsible for most.
  • The Serbian Civic Council, on the departure of the Serbs from formerly occupied parts that are now parts of the Federation: "The majority of the population in occupied Sarajevo wants to stay, but they are under great pressure to leave form Pale."
  • Meeting between Izetbegovic and Clinton at the U.S. military base in Tuzla. On this occasion, the U.S. president in his address to the American soldiers says: "You are creating a new history. You are prepared for war, but your mission in Bosnia is peace - you are part of a mission of heroes. In Tuzla you are defending American values and American interests. "
  • The CIA and the Pentagon, for the first time in Bosnia, set up a secret intelligence operation to identify the political and military opponents of the Dayton Peace Accords.
  • NATO forces continue to arrive in Bosnia and deploy.
  • Admiral Leighton Smith: "If during our performance of official duties we come across criminals, or they us, it is our obligation to detain them and hand them over to the international tribunal. Research on mass graves is not part of our job. The establishment of a state in which others will be able to do their jobs falls within my duties. "
  • IFOR controls water, electricity and gas.
  • NATO takes over the airport in Visoko with 100 soldiers and 16 armored vehicles.
  • Richard Holbrooke in Sarajevo.
  • About 60 mujahideen left Bosnia
  • Hasan Muratovic is the new mandator of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The SDA withdraws the candidacy of Haris Silajdzic.
  • Richard Goldstone, chief judge of the Hague Tribunal arrives in Sarajevo. He visits the sites of war crimes.
  • Japan recognizes BiH.
  • "Migrations of dead souls" from reintegrated areas of Sarajevo. Entrepreneurs from Serbia demand 800 DEM for the exhumation of bodies.
  • Radovan Karadzic on TV "Srna" shows off an urban plan for Pale, including a stadium, a university and a “small church” in “Serb Sarajevo."
  • The first private civilian plane lands at Sarajevo airport from the “Top Air” airline from Istanbul. The pilot is American, "I wasn’t afraid, but I was very proud to have landed in Sarajevo."
  • In Florida, the boy who will become the Dalai Lama is discovered.
  • Russian Cossacks offer asylum to Karadzic and Mladic, on the Don. This is a historical tradition. The Cossacks never delivered anyone from the Don when Christian serfs fled to the Don. A General of the Cossack Army was a volunteer in Bosnia from December '92 to March '93. Karadzic grants him the rank of General in the JNA.
  • The Pope releases two white doves from his window, telling them: "Fly to Sarajevo. Let your flight carry a symbolic message of hope and peace throughout the world. Fly to Sarajevo, and may the almighty God bless you. "
  • Chris Janowski, spokesman for the UNHCR, from the bridge of "Brotherhood and Unity": "From this bridge, you can almost touch Grbavica, you can see it from this side, but still you can’t cross over to it."
  • The great Russian poet Joseph Brodsky dies. During the war, he wrote a poem about Bosnia.
  • Nikola Koljevic visits Sarajevo on a trip overseen by Bildt.

Video Oral History

Ibrahim Jusufranić
TRAM IS SHOT; ONE DEAD; 19 WOUNDED
FC-VOH-99-986 | Video