Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo
Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo was an international documentary about the deaths of
Admira Ismić(b.1968) and
Boško Brkić (b.1968) (
Serbian:
Адмира Исмић and
Бошко Бркић). The couple were natives of the former
Yugoslavia, living in the city of
Sarajevo. Like many other couples and families in
Bosnia, they were of different ethnic groups, she was a
Bosniak, he a
Bosnian Serb.[
1] They were killed on
May 19,
1993, while fleeing the besieged city on
Vrbanja bridge. Photographs of their dead bodies were used by numerous media outlets, and a now legendary
Reuters dispatch about them was filed by
Kurt Schork. They became a symbol for the suffering of the people on all sides of the conflict.
The documentary was co-produced by
PBS's
Frontline, the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the
National Film Board of Canada and WDR Germany. It was directed by
John Zaritsky.
The
Siege of Sarajevo caused living conditions to deteriorate drastically for its inhabitants and, in 1993, the couple decided to flee the city. Having friends on all sides involved in the conflict there was a general thought that their passage through the city and its infamous
Sniper Alley could be a safe one.
An arrangement was made for
May 19,
1993 at 17:00 h (GMT +01:00) that no one would fire as the couple approached. According to Dino Kapin, who was a Commander of Croatian Unit allied at the time with Muslim forces, around 17:00 h, a man and a woman were seen approaching the bridge. As soon as they were at the foot of the bridge, a shot was heard, and according to all sides involved in their passage, the bullet hit Boško Brkić and killed him instantaneously. Another shot was heard and the woman screamed, fell down wounded, but was not killed. She crawled over to her boyfriend, cuddled to him, hugged him, and died. It was observed that she was alive for at least 15 minutes after the shooting.
|
Admira and Boško shot dead |
To this date, it is not known with certainty who fired the shots, but it is generally believed that shots came from the Serbian side. The bodies of Admira and Boško lay on the bridge for days since no one dared to enter the Sniper Alley, a no man's land, and recover them. As the bodies lay on the bridge,
Serbian and
Bosnian sides were arguing over who killed the couple and who would ultimately take the responsibility for the killing. After eight days the bodies were recovered by Serbian forces in the middle of the night. However, it was later revealed that the Serbian army forced Bosnian POWs to go there in the middle of the night and recover the bodies.
They are now buried together, side by side in
Lion Cemetery, surrounded by thousands of other victims from the Siege of Sarajevo.
*
PBS Transcript "Romeo and Juliet of Sarajevo"*
The Journal for MultiMedia History*
CNN Mission: Peace "Bodies of Sarajevo's 'Romeo and Juliet' come home"*
Kurt Schork's signature dispatch from siege of Sarajevo
