“The March of the 500”

In December 1992, Beati i costruttori di pace and other Italian pacifist groups organized a peace march to Sarajevo to symbolically break the siege and to show their support for the inhabitants from Sarajevo. 500 people participated in the initiative; they gathered in Ancona, and after arriving by boat in Split, traveled by bus through Mostar and Konjic to Kiseljak, where they spent the night. The next day, they drove from Kiseljak to Ilidža, where the Army of Republika Srpska allowed them to pass the siege line. They entered Sarajevo on December 11th, and stayed for two days, being hosted by families from Sarajevo. During their stay they took part in institutional meetings, hold a street demonstration and a public assembly at the ‘Prvi Maj’ cinema. Their main cooperation partner in Sarajevo was the International Peace Centre.

The poster was published by the “House of Peace” in Trento, and invites the public to a torchlight procession supporting the peace caravan to Sarajevo. Pacifists from Trento were part of the caravan.