The History Museum of BiH (part 2)

As mentioned previously, this museum is suffering from neglect and underfunding, but there are still a few gems to be seen.

“Sarajevo Surrounded” is an exhibit that displays various items form the Siege is located on the second floor of the museum. One thing that caught my eye was the primitive satellite phone that the president of the country used to communicate with the outside world. Technology has come a long way since the mid-1990s, but this device was undoubtedly invaluable during the Siege.

This klunky satellite phone was the president's only secure communication beyond the perimeters of the Siege.

Identity cards and other personal belonging of three victims (from one of the Markale market shellings?) 

Books that were partially shredded by shrapnel from exploding mortar rounds.

A traveling exhibition at the History Museum featured black and white photos taken by Tim Loveless during his time working as a photographer working for the ICTY documenting the genocide at Srebrenica. I also found an invaluable website resource posted on the wide screen display monitor, which gives a great deal of information on the Srebrenica genocide, and the subsequent identification process at the mass burial sites. 

Rather than showing you photos of photos, here a link to another photo exhibit on display, this one by a Scottish aid worker, Jim Marshall. The side-by-side photos compare the time immediately following the Dayton Peace Accords of 1995, with those of 2011. It's amazing that some of these building have been restored after the extensive damage that they suffered during the war.

And for something totally off the wall, there was a multi-media exhibit on the East and West German “counter-culture” avant-garde music and art scene in 1970s and 80s featuring bands that I had never ever heard of, which after hearing a few samples—I realized I hadn’t missed out on much, though I do have to give credit to the East German musician who fabricated a saxophone out of a moped muffler.

Resourceful, or just plain weird?

Mysteriously, when I came back down to the ground floor, the stairwell to the basement was roped off…though I was distinctly informed when earlier greeted by the ticket booth person that there was an exhibit downstairs as well…but alas, I didn’t create a scene. Perhaps the now torrential rain was flooding the building. I don’t know even know what was down there, as there was absolutely no signage, perhaps Cold war stuff. If that was the case I got plenty of that when I visited the café located on the backside of the museum.

Café Tito has all the Cold War Yugoslavia memorabilia one could possibly image. The walls are plastered with photos of Tito, the partisan leader of World War II who ruled the newborn country between 1945 and his death in 1980. Despite whatever you might think of his authoritarian leadership style, he managed to keep the fear of the state at the forefront, upstaging any ethnic fear-mongering.

In the gardens surrounding the café, there are a few pieces of random military equipment from World War II: a Croatian armored train car, an American Stuart light tank, a Wiley Jeep, and assorted artillery pieces.

Death to Fascism, Freedom to the People!

Waiting for the rain to let up at the outdoor cafe. An American Jeep is part of the playground here.