1996 FAMA Pictorial Map of Sarajevo During the Siege of Sarajevo

This is a 1996 FAMA pictorial map of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Siege of Sarajevo. An internationally celebrated piece that is known as the 'Sarajevo Survival Map', the map depicts the city, which sits in the valley of the Miljacka River, encircled by artillery pieces and tanks all positioned on the high ground surrounding the city. 260 tanks, 120 mortars, and weapons of smaller calibers, encircled the city from April 5, 1992 until February 29, 1996, a total of 1,425 days, making it the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.

A Pictorial Map of a Tragedy

Acting as a visual reference for this incredible tragedy, sites around the city that played a role in the siege, such as 'Sniper Alley' (the main boulevard in Sarajevo known for its sniper nests), the Dobrinja-Butmir Tunnel (used to get members of the army and parliamentary officials in an out of the city - the U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Viktor Jaković also used it), and several buildings used by the UNPROFOR (United Nations Protection Forces) are all illustrated. Hospitals, museums, the brewery, and other buildings are illustrated as well. Sniper crosshairs dot the map, making the ominous and deadly reality of life in Sarajevo all-too apparent, and the 'dangerous zones' marked by large red dots create areas that some may interpret as 'kill zones'.

The Siege of Sarajevo

The siege, which lasted three times longer than the Battle of Stalingrad and a year longer than the Siege of Leningrad, began shortly after Bosnia and Herzegovina voted by referendum to declare independence from Yugoslavia. Bosnian Serbs, with their ultimate goal of creating a Bosnian Serb state known as the Republika Srpska, encircled Sarajevo and stationed troops on the surrounding hills. Even though the Bosnian government defense forces in Sarajevo outnumbered the besieging Serbians by more than three to one, their lack of firepower rendered them unable to break the siege. The besieging force lobbed dozens of shells into the city daily and snipers proliferated throughout the city, occupying high points and terrorizing Sarajevo's citizens. NATO, at the behest of the United Nations, did not intervene until February 1994, and it was not until February 1996 that the Bosnian government finally declared an end to the siege, following the implementation of the Dayton Accords, which ended the Bosnian War. 13,952 people, both military and civilian, lost their lives during the siege.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Suada Kapić, illustrated by Ozren Pavlovic, and published by FAMA in Sarajevo in 1996. Two examples of the map appear in institutional collections in the OCLC, both of which are located in Slovenia. FAMA also published a collection of documents, of which this map is a part, that is part of the institutional collections at the National Endowment for Democracy, the University of Michigan, Stanford, and the University of California Berkeley. It is incredibly rare on the private market, as we have been unable to locate any other examples. We have also been unable to locate any other instances when it has appeared on the private market.