Zlata's Diary (4 page)

 

Unfortunately, there was increased shelling and shooting on Christmas Day and over the New Year in Sarajevo. Five children were killed when a kindergarten was shelled by the Serbs.

However, on December 23, 1993, Zlata and her parents were transported from their home in the Skenderija district of old Sarajevo in two armored vehicles of the French UNPROFOR contingent and taken through government and Serb checkpoints at the airport. A few hours later, they left for the safety of Paris on a UN plane.

As I watched the television images of Sarajevo at Christmas, I remember Zlata telling me about her dreams and I wonder what she is dreaming now, safe in Paris. “I used to dream about the beach, somewhere warm,” she once told me. “But when there is shelling, I only think about being safe.” She is now safe, but there are thousands of other children who are not, who are sitting in the dark around a candle, hungry, terrified by the shelling, who have lost parents, brothers, sisters. It is for them that Zlata wrote this book.

 

JANINE DI GIOVANNI
London 1994

ZLATA'S FAMILY

 

Malik
HER FATHER

Alica
HER MOTHER

Melica
HER FATHER'S SISTER

Braco and Seka
BRACO IS HER MOTHER'S BROTHER; HE IS
MARRIED TO SEKA AND THEY ARE THE PARENTS
OF MIKICA AND DACO

 

 

FRIENDS OF ZLATA
AND HER PARENTS

 

Kemo and Alma
NEIGHBORS; PARENTS OF HARIS AND NEJRA.
RELATIVES OF NEIGHBORS EMINA AND SAMRA

Bobar Family
CLOSE NEIGHBORS AND FAMILY FRIENDS.
GRANDMA MIRA. AUNTIE BODA AND UNCLE
ŽIKA; MAJA AND BOJANA, THEIR DAUGHTERS

Emina and Samra
NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS; RELATIVES OF
KEMO AND ALMA

Irena
SUMMER SCHOOL TEACHER

Ivanka
MOTHER'S FRIEND FROM WORK

Braco and Keka Lajtner
HUSBAND AND WIFE; PARENTS OF MARTINA
AND MATEA

Mirna
ZLATA'S BEST FRIEND

Mišo
MIRNA'S FATHER

Mladjo
SRDJAN'S BROTHER

Neda
MOTHER'S BEST FRIEND FROM WORK

Nedo
TWENTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD REFUGEE, FRIEND
AND NEIGHBOR

Radmila
MOTHER'S FRIEND FROM WORK

Slobo and Doda
HUSBAND AND WIFE; FRIENDS OF ZLATA'S
MOTHER; PARENTS OF DEJAN

Srdjan and Bokica
HUSBAND AND WIFE; FRIENDS OF ZLATA'S
PARENTS; PARENTS OF ANDREJ AND VANJA

Behind me—a long, hot summer and the happy days of summer holidays; ahead of me—a new school year. I'm starting fifth grade. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends at school, to being together again. Some of them I haven't seen since the day the school bell rang, marking the end of term. I'm glad we'll be together again, and share all the worries and joys of going to school.

Mirna, Bojana, Marijana, Ivana, Maša, Azra, Minela, Nadža—we're all together again.

The week was spent getting my books and school supplies, describing how we spent our holidays on the seaside, in the mountains, in the countryside and abroad. We all went somewhere and we all have so much tell one another.

Classes have also started at music school now. I go twice a week for piano and solfeggio. I'm continuing my tennis lessons. Oh yes, I've been moved up to the “older” group in tennis. Wednesdays I go to Auntie Mika's for English lessons. Tuesdays I have choir practice. Those are my responsibilities. I have six lessons every day, except Fridays. I'll survive ...

I don't know if I mentioned my workshop class (it's a new subject) which starts in fifth grade. Our teacher is Jasmina Turajlić and I LIKE HER. We learn about wood, what it is, how it's used, and it's pretty interesting. Soon we'll be moving on to practical work, which means making various things out of wood and other materials. It'll be interesting.

The teachers have already started testing us, there's history, geography, biology. I have to study!

I'm home from school and I'm really tired. It's been a hard week. Tomorrow is Saturday and I can sleep as long as I like. LONG LIVE SATURDAYS! Tomorrow night, I'm “busy.” Tomorrow is Ivana Varunek's birthday party. I received an invitation today. More about this next time ...

It's now 11:00 A.M. Ivana's birthday is actually today but she had her party yesterday. It was super. There were little rolls, things to munch on, sandwiches and, most important of all—a cake. Boys were invited as well as girls. We had a dance contest and I won. My prize was a little “jewelry” box. All in all it was a great party.

I'm watching the American Top 20 on MTV. I don't remember a thing, who's in what place.

I feel great because I've just eaten a “Four Seasons” PIZZA with ham, cheese, ketchup and mushrooms. It was yummy. Daddy bought it for me at Galija's (the pizzeria around the corner). Maybe that's why I didn't remember who took what place—I was too busy enjoying my pizza.

I've finished studying and tomorrow I can go to school BRAVELY, without being afraid of getting a bad grade. I deserve a good grade because I studied all weekend and I didn't even go out to play with my friends in the park. The weather is nice and we usually play “monkey in the middle,” talk and go for walks. Basically, we have fun.

A hard but successful working day. Math test—A, written test in language—A, biology oral—A. I'm tired, but happy.

Another weekend ahead of me. We're going to Crnotina (our place about fifteen kilometers away)—it has a big orchard with a house that's about 150 years old—a cultural monument under protection of the state. Mommy and Daddy restored it. Grandma and Granddad are still there. I miss them. I miss Vildana, her dog Ati, I miss the clean air and beautiful countryside.

It was wonderful in Crnotina. I like our house (it's really unusual) and the surrounding countryside more and more every time we go. We picked pears, apples, walnuts, we took pictures of a clever little squirrel that stole the walnuts, in the evening we had a barbecue—my specialty is ć
evapčiċi
[grilled meat rolls]. Grandma made apple strudel. I collected different leaves for the herbarium and played with Ati.

Autumn has already replaced summer. Slowly but surely it is painting and coloring nature with its brush. The leaves are turning yellow, red, and they are falling. The days are getting shorter and it's colder. Autumn is really nice too! In fact, every season's nice in its own way. Somehow I don't notice and don't feel the beauty of nature when I'm in town the way I do when I'm in Crnotina. In Crnotina it smells good, it caresses me, it calls me into its embrace. I had a really nice rest enjoying and feeling the beauty of nature.

Yesterday was a really awful day. We were ready to go to Jahorina (the most beautiful mountain in the world) for the weekend. But when I got home from school, I found my mother in tears and my father in uniform. I had a lump in my throat when Daddy said he had been called up by the police reserve. I hugged him, crying, and started begging him not to go, to stay at home. He said he had to go. Daddy went, and Mommy and I were left alone. Mommy cried and phoned friends and relatives. Everyone came immediately (Slobo, Doda, Keka, Mommy's brother Braco, Aunt Melica, there were so many I can't remember them all). They all came to console us and to offer their help. Keka took me to spend the night with Martina and Matea. When I woke up in the morning, Keka told me everything was all right and that Daddy would be home in two days.

I'm home now, Melica is staying with us and it looks as though everything will be all right. Daddy should be home the day after tomorrow. Thank God!

Everything really does seem to have turned out all right. Daddy got back yesterday, on his birthday. He's off again tomorrow, and then every two days. He'll be on duty for ten hours each time. We'll just have to get used to it. I suppose it won't last for long. But, I don't know what it all means. Some reservists from Montenegro have entered Herzegovina. Why? For what? Politics, it seems, but I don't understand politics. After Slovenia and Croatia, are the winds of war now blowing toward Bosnia-Herzegovina??? No, that's impossible.

There's a real war going on in Dubrovnik. It's being badly shelled. People are in shelters, they have no water, no electricity, the phones aren't working. We see horrible pictures on TV. Mommy and Daddy are worried. Is it possible that such a beautiful town is being destroyed? Mommy and Daddy are especially fond of it. It was there, in the Ducal Palace, that they picked up a quill and wrote “YES” to spending the rest of their lives together. Mommy says it's the most beautiful town in the world and it mustn't be destroyed!!!

We're worried about Srdjan (my parents' best friend who lives and works in Dubrovnik, but his family is still in Sarajevo) and his parents. How are they coping with everything that's happening over there? Are they alive? We're trying to talk to him with the help of a ham radio, but it's not working. Bokica (Srdjan's wife) is miserable. Every attempt to get some news ends in failure. Dubrovnik is cut off from the rest of the world.

Good news from my piano teacher today. There's going to be a school recital and I'll be playing in it!!! I have to practice. I'll be playing Kabalevsky, Six
Variations on a Slovak Song.
All the variations are short, but difficult. It doesn't matter, I'll do my best.

Nothing new at school, it's the half term soon and we're working on our grades. The days are shorter, it's colder, which means it'll snow soon—HOORAY! Jahorina, skiing, two-seaters, one-seaters, ski-lifts—I can hardly wait!!! I'm pushing it a bit, there's still some time to go, but we've already bought ski tickets for the whole season.

I've just come back from choir practice. I'm hoarse! Imagine, our choir teacher told us today that we would be giving a performance soon. What a “public life” I'm having! We'll be singing “Nabucco,” “Ave Maria,” “When I Went to BembaÅ¡a,” “I Sing of Thee” and “Ode to Joy.” All the songs are wonderful.

I'm packing and I'm putting you, dear Diary, in my backpack. I'm spending the whole weekend with Martina and Matea (M&M). Super!!! Mommy is letting me go. In my backpack I've got my school books, my pajamas, my toothbrush ... and as soon as I put you in—off I go.

CIAO!!!

It's now 4:30 and I've just come home from M&M.

It was wonderful. We played tennis, watched MTV, RTL, SKY ... went out, walked and had fun. I took you with me, dear Diary, but I didn't write anything. You're not cross with me, are you?

I've done my homework and now I'm going to have a bath, watch TV and then go to bed. A weekend like any other—wonderful!

The situation in Dubrovnik is getting worse and worse. We managed to learn through the ham radio that Srdjan is alive and that he and his parents are all right. The pictures on TV are awful. People are starving. We're wondering about how to send a package to Srdjan. It can be done somehow through Caritas.
¹
Daddy is still going to the reserves, he comes home tired. When will it stop? Daddy says maybe next week. Thank God.

Daddy isn't going to the reserves anymore. Hooray!!! ... Now we'll be able to go to Jahorina and Crnotina on weekends. But, gasoline has been a problem lately. Daddy often spends hours waiting in the line for gasoline, he goes outside of town to get it, and often comes home without getting the job done.

Together with Bokica we sent a package to Srdjan. We learned through the ham radio that they have nothing to eat. They have no water, Srdjan swapped a bottle of whisky for five liters of water. Eggs, apples, potatoes—the people of Dubrovnik can only dream about them.

War in Croatia, war in Dubrovnik, some reservists in Herzegovina. Mommy and Daddy keep watching the news on TV. They're worried. Mommy often cries looking at the terrible pictures on TV. They talk mostly politics with their friends. What is politics? I haven't got a clue. And I'm not really interested. I just finished watching
Midnight Caller
on TV.

I've just come home from music school. I had my school recital. I think I was good. I tried. I made only two mistakes which they might not even have noticed. Matea was in the audience. I'm tired because it was nerve-racking.

It'll be November 29th, Republic Day, soon. Mommy and Daddy are going shopping and are getting everything ready to go to Jaca's (a family friend) and Jahorina.

HOORAY!!! I can hardly wait. Jahorina will be wonderful and unforgettable as always.

Friday, November 29, 1991

We're on Jahorina. Jaca has warmed up the house, there's a fire burning in the fireplace. As usual, Zoka (Jaca's husband) is making something special to eat, Daddy is talking politics with Boža (our friend and Daddy's colleague). Mommy and Jaca keep jumping into the conversation, and we children, Branko, Svjetlana, Nenad, Mirela, Anela, Oga and I, are wondering whether to take a walk, play a game, watch a movie on TV or play the unavoidable Scrabble. This time we've decided to play a game. We always have fun and laugh in our games, we have our own sense of humor. It's cold but wonderful . I'm so happy, I'm having such a good time. The food, drink and company in Jahorina are so nice. And at night, my favorite moment—Oga and I are the first to go to bed—for a long, long talk before going to sleep. We talk, we make plans, we tell each other secrets. Last night we chattered about MTV and the new music video.