Fax From Sarajevo

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how humanity can transcend borders, as depicted in the film Joyeux Noel.

Now the other side: Fax From Sarajevo. Legend Joe Kubert relates (via graphic novel) the true story of Ervin Rustemagic and the eighteen months of Hell he and his family went through during the ethnic cleansing of Sarajevo, Bosnia in 1992.

Ervin was a respected businessman and art agent in Sarajevo, and had gained many friends all over the world in his decade of dealings. Then the Serbs decided to rid the country of anyone not of Serbian blood. And the world just watched...

Due to iffy electrical and phone lines, Ervin found his best method of communication to be via fax. Using it, he updated his friends (including Kubert) about the goings-on in the city.

I was in college at the time of the war, and like most college students, the world wasn't really a consideration for me. I must say I'm embarrased that I was alive while this was going on-- and I never knew how bad it was. I'm even more embarrassed that my country (and the rest of the world) did little to nothing as it went on.

Just a little list of atrocities: Entire cities were leveled; tanks would run through a neighborhood and keep shooting until nothing was left standing. Men were rounded up and killed on sight. Women (from young girls to older women) were taken to "rape camps" and abused by soldiers in an effort to create more Serbians. The roads were nearly impassible (even by clearly marked emergency vehicles).

And, the most heinous thing of all: snipers were given $300 for every target they hit. The favored target were children because after they went down, parents/adults would try to save them (and, thus, becoming targets themselves).

I don't really want to give too many details about the story, but don't let the fact that it's a graphic novel keep you away. This is an important story about survival that is well worth checking out. It only helps that Kubert is a master of the craft-- and had a very personal stake on the main characters.

And it's important to just be reminded (or taught, if your knowledge of the war is like mine) of what went on half a world away just fifteen years ago.