Abstract
The Holiday Inn reopened in late June 1992, by which time the siege of Sarajevo had begun. This chapter focuses on the fate of the journalists still in the city, their eventual withdrawal from it in May 1992, and their return the following month. The author also provides an overview of how the hotel was brought back into a functioning state and why, despite its exposed position, the hotel became the city’s only press hotel, albeit one located directly on the frontline.
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Notes
- 1.
Peter Maass, Love Thy Neighbour: A Story of War, London: Papermac, 1996, p. 122.
- 2.
Author’s interview with Holiday Inn (Sarajevo) employee, June 2015.
- 3.
Dani, Sarajevo, April 2008, p. 87.
- 4.
Kerim Lučarević, The Battle for Sarajevo: Sentenced to Victory, Sarajevo: TZU, 2000, p. 49.
- 5.
Final Report of the United Nations Commission of Experts, ‘Study of the Battle and Siege of Sarajevo’, p. 18.
- 6.
For a detailed account of the defence of Sarajevo, the myriad groups who were involved and the eventual creation of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, see Marko Attila Hoare, How Bosnia Armed, London: Saqi Books, 2004.
- 7.
Robert Donia, Sarajevo: A Biography, p. 294.
- 8.
The republics of Serbia and Montenegro remained united in the ‘Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’, a successor state comprising of only these two republics. The creation of the state was not without controversy. A referendum was held in Montenegro (on 1 March 1992) but not in Serbia. Despite a boycott by Montenegrin opposition parties and their members, 95.7 % of Montenegrins who voted (the turnout was approximately 66 %) approved the creation of the new state. The new constitution of the FRY was scornfully referred to as ‘The Žabljak Constitution’ by Montenegrin opposition, after the town where the nomenklatura from Serbia and Montenegro wrote a new constitution with little or no public consultation. See Kenneth Morrison, ‘Montenegro: A Polity in Flux, 1989–2000’ in Charles Ingrao & Thomas Emmert, Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: A Scholars’ Initiative, West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press, 2013, pp. 437–438.
- 9.
The VRS incorporated forces from Knin, Bihać, Tuzla, Sarajevo, and Banja Luka was created on 22 May 1992 under the command of General Ratko Mladić. The commanders (of the Romanija-Sarajevo corps) who directed the siege of Sarajevo were Stanislav Galić (1992–94) and Dragomir Miloševič (1994–95). Both were later convicted by the ICTY for responsibility for targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Sarajevo.
- 10.
For a transcript of these exchanges, see Senad Hadžifejzović, Rat užvo: ratni teevizijski dnevnik, pp. 74–98.
- 11.
For a succinct overview of the battle, see Marko Attila Hoare, ‘Civil-Military Relations in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992–1995’ in Branka Magaš & Ivo Žanić, The War in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina 1991–1995, London: Frank Cass, 2001, pp. 186–188.
- 12.
Mile Jovičić, Two Days Till Peace: A Sarajevo Airport Story, p. 189.
- 13.
‘Background, Politics and Strategy of the Sarajevo Siege, 1991–1995’, Statement of expert witness in the case IT-09-92, ‘The Prosecutor V. Ratko Mladić’, 18 February, 2013, p. 73.
- 14.
Robert Donia, Iz Skupštine Republike Srpske 1991–1996, Sarajevo: University Press, 2012, p. 171.
- 15.
Robert Donia, Sarajevo: A Biography, p. 314.
- 16.
NIN, Belgrade, 27 November 1992, p. 23.
- 17.
Marko Attila Hoare, How Bosnia Armed, London: Saqi Books, 2004, p. 73.
- 18.
Miroslav Prstojević, Sarajevo: ranjeni grad, Sarajevo: Ideja, 1994, p. 55. See also Ivan Štraus, Arhiteky i barbari, p. 91.
- 19.
Robert Donia, Sarajevo: A Biography, p. 294. For a personal account of the fighting around Sarajevo airport and how it impacted on operational aspects, see Mile Jovičić, Two Days Till Peace: A Sarajevo Airport Story.
- 20.
The New York Times, New York, 27 September 1992, p. 3.
- 21.
Robert Donia, Sarajevo: A Biography, p. 290.
- 22.
The Observer, London, 27 December 1992, p. 27. For a detailed analysis of the ‘Green Lines’ and impact of division on both Beirut and Nicosia, see Jon Calame & Esther Charlesworth, Divided Cities: Belfast, Beirut, Jerusalem, Mostar and Nicosia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.
- 23.
After a chance meeting with Jonathan Landay (UPI, later the Christian Science Monitor) and Blaine Harden (The Washington Post) Džemal Bećirević, who would be hired as a fixer and translator. He recalled that ‘In the first weeks of the siege, people just carried on with their routines, going to work. There was nothing to do when they got there, but people held on to their normal routines nevertheless. I lived day by day, as much as normal, going to town to meet friends. I even went to the bank to pay off my overdraft! We thought it would all be over in days or weeks and that we would soon be down on the coast having our regular summer holiday—we never imagined then that it would last over three years.’ Author’s interview with Džemal Bećirević (UPI/Washington Post), April 2015.
- 24.
Towards the end of the Bosnian war, Danilo Dursun would become the ‘acting director’ of the Republika Srpska Bureau in Serbia, which was based in Moše Pijade Street in Belgrade. He would later (in 1997) be on the SDS’s list of proposed ambassadors in the (post-Dayton) Bosnian state. See ONASA, Sarajevo, 3 August 1997.
- 25.
Author’s interview with Holiday Inn (Sarajevo) employee, June 2015.
- 26.
Author’s interview with Holiday Inn (Sarajevo) employee, September 2013.
- 27.
Author’s interview with Joel Brand (The Times/Newsweek), April 2014.
- 28.
Final Report of the United Nations Commission of Experts, ‘Study of the Battle and Siege of Sarajevo’, p. 29.
- 29.
Misha Glenny, The Fall of Yugoslavia, Penguin Books, London, (3rd edition), 1996, p. 178.
- 30.
Martin Bell, In Harm’s Way, p. 150. According to Bell, the BBC’s editing equipment was ‘“liberated” by the grateful Serbs, together with a great quantity of videotape, and became the foundation of their TV service in Pale’. See Ibid, pp. 150–151.
- 31.
The Guardian, London, 21 May 1992, p. 17.
- 32.
Sabahudin Resić would later be appointed the director of ‘FK Sarajevo’ football club. He passed away in 2005 at the age of just 48.
- 33.
The changing management structure between 1992 and 1996 reflected the changing dynamics of the war. Before the war, the Holiday Inn had a Serb director (Danilo Dursun). Upon reopening, there were two directors (one Croat/one Muslim). With the outbreak of hostilities between the Muslims and Croats in late 1992, the hotel had (thereafter) Bosnian Muslim (SDA) directors.
- 34.
The premised of many of Sarajevo’s largest firms were targeted throughout the siege, thereby destroying much of the commercial infrastructure of the city. For an overview of the impact of the siege on these businesses, see Kemal Grebo, Privreda u opkoljenom Sarajevu, Sarajevo: OKO, 1998. For an overview of how some of these firms endeavoured to function and provide basic services for citizens during the siege, see Muhamed Kreševljaković (ed.), I oni brane Sarajevo, Sarajevo: Zlatni ljiljani, 1998.
- 35.
Author’s interview with Holiday Inn (Sarajevo) employee, June 2015.
- 36.
The Independent, London, 11 July 1992, p. 10.
- 37.
Author’s interview with Holiday Inn (Sarajevo) employee, September 2013.
- 38.
Author’s interview with Holiday Inn (Sarajevo) employee, September 2013.
- 39.
The Daily Mail, London, 10 July 1992, p. 10.
- 40.
Author’s interviews with Holiday Inn (Sarajevo) employees, September 2013, April/May 2014 and April 2015.
- 41.
Author’s interview with Holiday Inn (Sarajevo) employee, September 2013.
- 42.
Paul Harris, More Thrills than Skills: Adventures in Journalism, War and Terrorism, p. 182.
- 43.
The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 22 March 1994, p. 21.
- 44.
Robert Donia, Sarajevo: A Biography, p. 287.
- 45.
The Independent, London, 11 July 1992, p. 10.
- 46.
The Spectator, London, 17 July 1992, p. 10. The housekeeping staff found innovative ways of dealing with these problems. They would, if they had electricity, launder sheets before, on occasion, hanging them to dry in the hotel’s empty pool. Author’s interview with Holiday Inn (Sarajevo) employee, September 2013.
- 47.
Author’s interview with Allan Little (BBC), March 2015. According to the photojournalist Paul Lowe, staying at the Holiday Inn had drawbacks (it was exposed), but ‘on another level it became quite a convenient place to operate from. It was in the middle of the city, half way between the Old Town and the airport and reasonably close to the TV station and the PTT building. So although the southern side of the hotel was very exposed, it presented good opportunities—you could, from the Holiday Inn, sprint across the road to the museum and towards the front line at Grbavica, if you were feeling sufficiently brave and were trying to do a story about that small pocket there. So it had its positives.’ Author’s interview with Paul Lowe (The Daily Telegraph/The European), June 2015.
- 48.
Author’s interview with Malcolm Brabant (BBC), August 2015.
- 49.
Martin Bell, In Harm’s Way, p. 63.
- 50.
Author’s interview with Jeremy Bowen (BBC), March 2014.
- 51.
Jeremy Bowen, War Stories, p. 130.
- 52.
Author’s interview with Jeremy Bowen (BBC), March 2014. The Holiday Inn was, strictly speaking, not the only hotel that functioned during the siege. Both the Belvedere on Visnjik 2 and the nearby Hondo on Zaima Šarca (which opened in 1993) were among the very few functioning hotels in Sarajevo. They were, of course, smaller and cheaper, but could not provide the same facilities as the Holiday Inn. Nevertheless, both continued to function in difficult circumstances, though they were far less exposed to (particularly sniper fire) than the Holiday Inn.
- 53.
The Independent, London, 11 July 1992, p. 16.
- 54.
Jeremy Bowen, War Stories, p. 131.
- 55.
Author’s interview with Jeremy Bowen (BBC), March 2014. Bowen also stated that he had made the mistake of using the lifts (which almost never functioned) on one of this first visits to the Holiday Inn. ‘Before I knew better, I got into the lift, which was at the front of the hotel facing the Serb positions. The moment the doors opened at my floor and I stepped out…two shots came in and hit the doorframe where I was standing. They missed. A sniper on the Serb side of the front line must have been aiming at the light as the doors opened. After that, the lift stopped working most of the time, and I used the stairs at the back.’ See Ibid, p. 131.
- 56.
Anderson Cooper, Dispatches From the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters and Survival, New York: HarperCollins, 2006, p. 54.
- 57.
ICTY Case No. IT-98-29/1-T, The Prosecutor vs. Dragomir Milošević, Doc. No. 5765, 12 December 2007, p. 77.
- 58.
Author’s interview with Remy Ourdan (Le Monde), 5 November 2013.
- 59.
Author’s interview with Amra Abadžić-Lowe (Reuters), May 2014.
- 60.
Peter Andreas, Blue Helmets and Black Markets: The Business of Survival in the Siege of Sarajevo, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2008, p. 75.
- 61.
Robert Donia, Sarajevo: A Biography, p. 287.
- 62.
Author’s interview with Zoran Kusovac (Sky News), March 2015.
- 63.
Author’s interview with Vaughan Smith (Frontline News), June 2015.
- 64.
There were other hotels (or motels) functioning in Sarajevo, such as the Belvedere (where Associated Press were based), the Hotel Hondo (where a number of journalists moved to in 1993) and the Monik (which was used by UPI until October 1992).
- 65.
Author’s interview with John F. Burns (New York Times), September 2013.
- 66.
Author’s interview with John F. Burns (New York Times), September 2013.
- 67.
Author’s interview with John F. Burns (New York Times), September 2013.
- 68.
Author’s interview with John F. Burns (New York Times), July 2015.
- 69.
Author’s interview with John F. Burns (New York Times), July 2015.
- 70.
The Scotsman, Edinburgh, 29 May 2000, p. 16.
- 71.
Author’s interview with Vaughan Smith (Frontline News), June 2015.
- 72.
Author’s interview with Paul Harris (The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday), August 2015.
- 73.
Author’s interview with Joel Brand (The Times/Newsweek), November 2013.
- 74.
Author’s interview with Joel Brand (The Times/Newsweek), November 2013.
- 75.
Paul Lowe, ‘Portfolio: The Siege of Sarajevo’, Photography and Culture, Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2015, p. 135.
- 76.
See Paul Lowe, The Siege of Sarajevo, Sarajevo: Galerija 11/07/95, 2014.
- 77.
Author’s interview with Robert King (Freelance photographer, JB Pictures), June 2015.
- 78.
Author’s interview with Robert King (Freelance photographer, JB Pictures), June 2015.
- 79.
See Killer Image: Shooting Robert King, Director: Richard Parry, Trinity Films, London, 2008.
- 80.
Lisa Smirl. ‘Not Welcome at the Holiday Inn’, Spaces of Aid, 2 February 2014, p. 4.
- 81.
Author’s interview with Paul Lowe (The Daily Telegraph/The European), June 2015.
- 82.
Author’s interviews with Amra Abadžić-Lowe (Reuters), May 2014, Sabina Ćosić (Reuters), June 2014, Džemal Bećirević (UPI/Washington Post), April 2015 and Samir Korić (Reuters), April 2015.
- 83.
Author’s interview with Džemal Bećirević (UPI/Washington Post), April 2015.
- 84.
Jeremy Bowen, War Stories, London: Simon & Schuster, p. 133. According to Paul Harris, there were indeed some unusual characters in the Holiday Inn. ‘There was a young guy from Finland who was always hanging around the Holiday Inn hotel in Sarajevo. We called him Finnbar. We knew he represented some unpronounceable organ of the Finnish press. He was clearly on a tight budget because he slept in the laundry cupboard. It ultimately turned out, to everyone’s embarrassment, not least to the UN’s, that he was an enterprising 16 year-old schoolboy who had submitted a letter from UN press accreditation on the notepaper of the school magazine.’ See Paul Harris, More Thrills than Skills: Adventures in Journalism, War and Terrorism, p. 145.
- 85.
‘Soldier of Fortune’ (SOF), known also as ‘The Journal of Professional Adventurers’ was a monthly magazine published in the USA, which was widely read by soldiers, both by professionals and by mercenaries. The magazine became notorious in the 1970s when it launched a recruitment drive for mercenaries to fight for the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian War of 1964–79. The magazine was known to be popular among ‘war tourists’ and other amateurs with an interest in warfare.
- 86.
The Scotsman, Edinburgh, 15 June 1998, p. 9.
- 87.
The American Spectator, Summer Reading Issue, June 2000, p. 115.
- 88.
Author’s interview with Vaughan Smith (Frontline News), June 2015.
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Morrison, K. (2016). A New Reality, A New Clientele. In: Sarajevo’s Holiday Inn on the Frontline of Politics and War. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57718-4_8
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