IN SARAJEVO, THERE IS EFFORT TO ERASE TRACE OF SERBS AND THEIR PROPERTY

SARAJEVO, JUNE 26 /SRNA/ - The innermost part of Sarajevo once belonged to either the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ or the Serbs, and today individuals and institutions are spreading there, trying in every way to erase even the smallest trace of Serbian existence in those areas.

Written by: Željka DOMAZET

For years, apart from the building of the Theological Seminary that houses the Faculty of Economics in Sarajevo, the SOC has been seeking the property whose value no one dares to estimate, because these are the most attractive plots of land in the city center.

This is the land on which the current Parliamentary Assembly and Council of Ministers buildings were built, as well as the Holiday Inn Hotel, as well as the Zetra sports hall, which was built on an Orthodox cemetery.


SIGNATURES PLAYED FALSE ON RETURN OF PROPERTY

There were attempts to return the property to the SOC, but they failed, despite the fact that the then high representative Valentin Inzko was behind them. Representatives of the governments of the Federation of BiH and the Sarajevo Canton, the Sarajevo municipality of Stari Grad, and the Faculty of Economics signed an agreement in June 2010 on the return of the building of the SOC Theological Seminary, according to which the construction of a new building for the Faculty of Economics should begin in 2011.

However, the authorities have not taken any action to implement the agreement. Everything fell through and all the signatures and promises remained dead letters on paper.

Historians still occasionally speak about the Serbs, the SOC and Serbian property in Sarajevo, if someone raises the issue. Historian Draga Mastilović told SRNA that the presence of Serbs in the area of today's Sarajevo was known as early as the early Middle Ages.

"According to historical sources, the presence of Serbs in Sarajevo and in those areas extends throughout the Middle Ages, and this is even confirmed in Ottoman documents. We recently found an Ottoman document from the first half of the 18th century that literally says `Serbian Christian Church in Sarajevo`. So, the Serbian national name is constantly mentioned in that area," Mastilović pointed out.


LARGE PART OF SARAJEVO WAS BUILT ON SERBIAN LAND

As for the land itself, Mastilović stated, it is known that a large part of Sarajevo was built on Serbian land.

"It was built on Serbian land and what is even more important is the fact that Serbian merchants contributed a good part to the construction of Sarajevo," said Mastilović.

He notes that, unfortunately, today most of the buildings of the Metropolitanate of Dabar-Bosnia of the Serbian Orthodox Church have been usurped and cannot be used.

"Historical circumstances were such that buildings like the Hotel Evropa or some other significant buildings were seized at the time or nationalized and have not been returned to their real owners to this day. The worst thing is that the SOC does not have the possibility to return its buildings either," Mastilović stated.


THEY DON'T WANT TO RETURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BUILDING TO SOC

Mastilović says that one of the key problems of the SOC and Serbs is that the authorities in Sarajevo in the Federation of BiH refuse to return the Seminary building.

"This is one of the indicators of how they are trying to erase every mention of Serbs in Sarajevo, their importance throughout history, but also confirmation that in today's Sarajevo, unfortunately, they are not ready for either religious or interethnic dialogue or understanding.

Unfortunately, the SOC is today deprived of its rights in Sarajevo because a large number of its buildings have not been returned to it, and we know for sure that Serbian merchants and Serbian craftsmen left their properties to the SOC. Today, in Sarajevo, we have an attempt to completely erase all mention of Serbs, to erase Serbian culture and tradition, everything that is Serbian, even in the names of the streets," Mastilović warned.


SERBS MUST NOT GIVE UP ON SARAJEVO

Mastilović emphasized that, despite everything, Serbs as a people, and especially people who deal with issues of the culture of memory, must not give up on Sarajevo, not a single inch of Serbian land in that city, nor everything that Serbian culture and history have built there.

"We must not give up on Sarajevo," Mastilović said.

When asked whether Serbs today have enough attention and knowledge about everything that once belonged to Serbs in Sarajevo, Mastilović replied that he was not sure when it comes to wider circles how well people are informed about the importance of Sarajevo for Serbian history and Serbian culture throughout the centuries of its existence.

"What the `Treasury` of the Old Church in Sarajevo contains is an invaluable treasure that testifies to the centuries of our presence in that area. If other nations had what we have in the `Treasury` of the Old Church, not to mention other objects, they would be very proud. I am not sure how much we expose that story at all," says Mastilović, who is the Minister of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education of Republika Srpska.

He points out that Serbs tend to withdraw from those areas, forgetting their culture, history and tradition, leaving those entire areas to someone else.

"Sarajevo is a city built by Serbs and we do not have the right to give it up because of our ancestors today. It is up to us to what extent we will cultivate the culture of memory, both of Sarajevo as a Serbian city and of those famous Serbs who built not only Sarajevo, but Serbian culture and history in these areas," said Mastilović.