| 1. | PROLOGUE |
| 2. | BACKGROUND |
| 3. | SURVIVAL MAP |
| 4. | MAPPED SITES |
| 4.1. | Airport |
| 4.2. | Brewery |
| 4.3. | Bridges |
| 4.4. | Cemeteries |
| 4.5. | City Bakery |
| 4.6. | City Hall (National Library) |
| 4.7. | Dangerous Zones |
| 4.8. | Elektroprivreda Building |
| 4.9. | Gardens |
| 4.10. | Holiday Inn Hotel |
| 4.11. | Hospitals |
| 4.12. | Markale Market |
| 4.13. | Markets |
| 4.14. | Maternity Hospital |
| 4.15. | National Museum |
| 4.16. | National Theater |
| 4.17. | Olympic Museum |
| 4.18. | Oslobođenje Building |
| 4.19. | Parks |
| 4.20. | Post Office |
| 4.21. | Presidency Building |
| 4.22. | Protection |
| 4.23. | Radio-Television Building |
| 4.24. | Railway Station |
| 4.25. | Snipers |
| 4.26. | Tobacco Factory |
| 4.27. | Transportation |
| 4.28. | Tunnel |
| 4.29. | UNPROFOR (the United Nations Protection Forces) |
| 4.30. | Zetra Olympic Hall |
| 5. | PERCEPTIONS |
| 6. | MACRO STORIES |
| 7. | REFERENCES |
| 1. | PROLOGUE |
| 2. | BACKGROUND |
| 3. | SURVIVAL MAP |
| 4. | MAPPED SITES |
| 4.1. | Airport |
| 4.2. | Brewery |
| 4.3. | Bridges |
| 4.4. | Cemeteries |
| 4.5. | City Bakery |
| 4.6. | City Hall (National Library) |
| 4.7. | Dangerous Zones |
| 4.8. | Elektroprivreda Building |
| 4.9. | Gardens |
| 4.10. | Holiday Inn Hotel |
| 4.11. | Hospitals |
| 4.12. | Markale Market |
| 4.13. | Markets |
| 4.14. | Maternity Hospital |
| 4.15. | National Museum |
| 4.16. | National Theater |
| 4.17. | Olympic Museum |
| 4.18. | Oslobođenje Building |
| 4.19. | Parks |
| 4.20. | Post Office |
| 4.21. | Presidency Building |
| 4.22. | Protection |
| 4.23. | Radio-Television Building |
| 4.24. | Railway Station |
| 4.25. | Snipers |
| 4.26. | Tobacco Factory |
| 4.27. | Transportation |
| 4.28. | Tunnel |
| 4.29. | UNPROFOR (the United Nations Protection Forces) |
| 4.30. | Zetra Olympic Hall |
| 5. | PERCEPTIONS |
| 6. | MACRO STORIES |
| 7. | REFERENCES |
4.1.
Airport
"If they were able to shut the air, they would have done it"
The airport was officially controlled by UNPROFOR. It was used by military planes with humanitarian aid for the city, foreign journalists, artists, politicians, mediators, diplomats and the citizens of Sarajevo with UN Press or UNHCR cards. The airport was opened or closed depending on the aggressors shelling or their guarantees of safety in accordance with their current political or military aims. In reality the aggressors controlled the airport.
The runway: Before the tunnel was built people would enter or leave the city running across the runway which was cluttered with barbed wire, trenches and various obstacles put there by UNPROFOR. While running to avoid sniper fire they had to hide from the white UN transporters and patrols which were trying to prevent the crossing of the runway. The deaths and wounding while crossing the runway were reported daily on the radio.
The blue road: On several occasions during the siege UNPROFOR organized a passage across the runway for civilian traffic.
FAMA Collection Visual Archives
Sarajevo citizens: In their own words
“The airport was closed at the end of April ‘92 after the aggression of the chetniks and the former JNA. After that, on 5th June ’92, we in fact signed the airport over to UN forces, that is to UNPROFOR. Then preparations went on for three or four months to organize an air-lift, which began in September ‘92, but very small, far from satisfying the needs of the town.”
- Bakir Karahasanović, Director of the Sarajevo Airport
“…that night he took me across, with my sister’s daughter again. He literally dragged me, because I couldn’t, I took off the coat, I took everything off, my shirt, so that it gets easier, so that I can run. When I crossed halfway, there were women sitting there, lighting a cigarette, I couldn’t understand what they were doing in the middle of the runway, because people get killed here. I asked, in what direction are you going, to Sarajevo or Hrasnica.”
- Nermina Kapić, Flower shop owner
“In ‘94 the fighting was intense which was very bad for air transport. I worked on the ground and I could see the risks for landing and working on the ground. Luckily, except for several hits on planes, there was no greater catastrophe, which is a real miracle. Despite the heavy war impacts in 1994 the Airport was operating around 30 to 40 planes a day, including the UNHCR, UNPROFOR and the Red Cross, who got involved with Ajax 7X and Iljusin 76 type aircrafts.”
- Bakir Karahasanović, Director of the Sarajevo Airport
Video Oral History: The Siege of Sarajevo 1992-96 (© FAMA Collection, 1997-99.)