3.4. Amina Begović | Perceptions - Then & Now
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B/H/S FAMA Collection
1.
PROLOGUE
2.
BACKGROUND
3.
PERCEPTIONS - THEN & NOW
3.1.
Enes Zlatar Bure
3.2.
Nedžad Begović
3.3.
Una Bejtović
3.4.
Amina Begović
3.5.
Adi Sarajlić
3.6.
Sabrina Begović-Ćorić
3.7.
Srđan Jevđević
3.8.
Haris Pašović
3.9.
Vesna Mišanović
3.10.
Amra Zulfikarpašić
3.11.
Amina Begović
3.12.
Fuad Babić
3.13.
Riad Ljutović
3.14.
Prof. Rešad Arnautović
3.15.
Arijana Saračević Helać
3.16.
Selma Hodžić / Sanina Rizvanbegović
3.17.
Prof. Ognjenka Finci
3.18.
Ferida Duraković
3.19.
Dr. Bakir Nakaš / Dr. Vesna Čengić
3.20.
Mladen Jeličić Troko
3.21.
Maja Tulić
3.22.
Dragan Rokvić
3.23.
Šemsa Mehmedović
3.24.
Adnan Harambašić
4.
INTERACTIVE SURVIVAL MAP
5.
REFERENCES

The Siege of Sarajevo 1992-96
MAPPING A BESIEGED CITY
The Art of Survival #1
The Siege of Sarajevo 1992-96
AHEAD OF FEAR
The Art of Survival #2

☰

3.4.

Amina Begović

"You didn’t cross Tršćanska street because of the roses, did you?"

The siege of Sarajevo completely disrupted the urban structure of the city. Most locations and streets gained new significance, and often became strategically important determinants for the survival of citizens fleeing from snipers and grenades. The citizens of Sarajevo learnt very quickly which are the dangerous zones in the city, they knew how to navigate the main and side streets, they learnt to listen for the distance between grenades and sniper shots and to cross life-threatening intersections.

Amina Begović recalls the situation when, despite the danger, she decided to run through one of the most dangerous streets in the city, in order to pick roses. Roses as a motif of beauty in the middle of a ruined city. Thirty years later, she recalls her motivation and answers the question of whether she would do the same from today's perspective.

Then...

"One sets one’s teeth and runs as fast as one can. And I took some scissors and I cut those roses and brought them back into my room."

Now...

"We know that people died in the safest places. So, it was a question of whether you are hit or missed. Fortunately, I was missed."

© FAMA Collection; Oral History: 'The Siege of Sarajevo 1992-1996'

Then...

“On September 11, 1994 the snipers were again shooting at Tršćanska Street as they had been doing every day. That was the only light in the dark. It means that for a few seconds when the tracer bullet flies by, you can see what’s in the room. And September is one of the most beautiful months in Sarajevo; it can be very beautiful. Everywhere around it was grey, the town was destroyed, everything burnt, the UNIS building had been burnt, it looked very ugly. Suddenly in that greyness, on the other side of Tršćanska Street, in front of the UNIS building I saw beautiful roses. The roses somebody had planted when there was peace and when it was supposed to look like that. Those roses went somewhat wild during the war. Nobody cut them, watered them, or whatnot. However, now it was in all that greyness. Meaning, at a time when nobody could clean up Tršćanska Street. When nobody dared to go out, to take a broom and clean up all that glass, suddenly the roses sprang up from all that. My feelings were that beauty couldn’t be described, the happiness I felt. I dressed and went across Tršćanska, you know, one sets one’s teeth and runs as fast as one can, because it was a clear day. And I took some scissors and I cut those roses and brought them back into my room. Later people asked me: Where did you get those roses? I said: From in front of the UNIS buildings. They said, it was impossible. You didn’t cross Tršćanska Street because of the roses, did you? I did, I said.” - Amina Begović, actress (September 1994)

© FAMA Collection; Macro Story: 'The Siege of Sarajevo - Then & Now'

Now...

„What you see here are the UNIS towers, or UNITIC, as it is called today. There are no roses in front of them today. There are other flowers. The roses were planted during Tito's time, I guess that's why they are no longer there. On one side of this street there is a large intersection, and there across the bridge, at the Jewish cemetery, was an invisible but omnipresent enemy, the aggressor of this country and this city. On the other side is the school, the Military Hospital, today the General Hospital - all the places where the aggressor liked to hit. And this here is me. Thirty years later. One war, two coronas, two cancers - and alive! Then I ran across the street, across which the sniper shot, to pick roses. Was it courage or folly? I have no idea. I don't know what would make me run over now, but I know that at that time it was not up to us to save our lives. It was up to God, a higher power, fate or whatever you call it. We know that people died in the safest places. So, it was a question of whether you are hit or missed. Fortunately, I was missed. It was important to keep the spirit. There was no help there. You couldn't keep it sitting in the basement. You had to do what you love the most and you had to try to bring colours into your life. In any way. I brought them in with those roses, among other things.” - Amina Begović, actress (April 2024)

More on this topic in our Macro Story.

3.3. Una Bejtović
3.5. Adi Sarajlić