“Letter from Sarajevo”

Several members of Women in Black in Serbia corresponded by mail with friends in Sarajevo. Letters that came from Sarajevo were read aloud during meetings in Belgrade and published in the group’s annual publication, “Žene za mir”, as testimonies about life in Sarajevo and the resilience of its inhabitants.

This letter was written by theatre actress Jasna Diklić to Lepa Mlađenović in February 1994. In it, Jasna writes about how upset she is about the death of six children killed the day before, that she is acting at the theatre every evening, and how happy she is when she receives letters and packages from Lepa or other friends. “You, Jadranka, and your girls are fantastic. Few have shown as much care and compassion for us as you have in this war, which seems to me to be the dirtiest in the history of warfare.”

The letters were circulated by aid organisations or persons who left Sarajevo and then could send letters to Belgrade from outside of BiH; in this case it was Susan Sontag who took Jasna’s letter with her and then sent it to Belgrade from the USA.