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Not his turn to die

Michael Averko - 4/25/2008

Savo Heleta's recently released book (published this year in New York by the American Management Association) is a gripping personal account of his childhood and teenage experiences growing up in prewar and war torn Bosnia. The former Gorazde resident's perspective includes his living with Muslims as a secular Serb. Some personal war stories have proven later to be false. Heleta presents a believable overview that appears free of questionable claims. There are numerous individuals who have known his family and himself for a lengthy period. They can choose to refute Heleta's claims. A lack of challenge can be seen as a confirmation of his views.

The stated cynicism pertains to politically exaggerated Bosnian Civil War related deaths (ranging from 200,000 and more claimed, down to a now generally accepted 100,000) and rape figures (casually cited in the tens of thousands, down to a number more closely matching what is found in many large cities at "peace"). Heleta is going against a mass media influenced perception that the Bosnian Serbs did not suffer in significant numbers. A case in point is when mention of Srebrenica typically refers to the Serb summary execution of Muslim males (a figure still not factually established), without noting an earlier Muslim atrocity of Serbs (perhaps over 3,000 killed) in the same town. Srebrenica's mass graves include/included non-Muslims and Muslims killed over a few years by means other than summary execution (collateral damage and armed combatants).

Heleta touches on the misinformation process. The main Serb adversary in Bosnia: Alija Izetbegovic's Muslim government accentuated the plight of its side, in an effort to receive worldwide support.

Having experienced the Bosnian Civil War from a predominately Muslim enclave, Heleta writes of Serb attacks on his hometown and how Serb civilians were victims of such operations. His indignation at the extent of civilian casualties is measured. He agrees with the view that at times, the Bosnian Civil War was "sloppily" (for lack of a better word) fought by all sides. Lacking "smart bombs", the armed combatants were frequently situated in civilian areas, thereby increasing the likelihood of collateral damage.

As a youth growing up in Gorazde, Heleta fondly recollects how everyone seemed to pretty much get along. Like many Serb and non-Serb Yugoslavs, the Heleta family identified with the Yugoslav ideal, while having an awareness of their ethnic identity. Heleta's parents were Communist Party members of a non-ideological kind. Similar to how in some areas of the United States, it is considered personally beneficial to be registered as either a Democrat or Republican.

Heleta's extended family fought on the side of Tito's Partisans during World War II. In chapter four, there is a noticeable slant favoring that group over the rival Chetniks led by Draza Mihailovich. The Chetniks were a mostly Serb force, with the Partisans having a greater multi-ethnic makeup. Without being so specific, Without being too specific, Heleta writes that all of the major World War II era Yugoslav based forces exhibited instances of extreme violence against their adversaries. The Nazi allied Croat Ustasha were the worst of the bunch.

Prior to the Bosnian Civil War, Heleta witnessed devoutly religious Muslims attending mosque, whereas his family would have non-religious festive gatherings during major Orthodox Christian holidays. He proceeds to describe the rise of Bosnian Muslim nationalist political activity at a time when other Yugoslav national groups had elements undertaking a nationalist path. In point of fact, the Croat and Bosnian Muslim leaders (Franjo Tudjman and Alija Izetbegovic respectively) were pursuing a nationalist course before Slobodan Milosevic's political ascendancy in Serbia.

Heleta expresses bewildered resentment at how one time friendly Muslim and Serb townspeople suddenly became distrustful of each other. As the minority in Gorazde, Serbs were specifically targeted for harassment that was often times fatal. The book provides detail on these incidents. For a good number of people, this depiction is a switch from the image of evil Serbs against innocent others. With appreciation, Heleta tells of Muslims helping his immediate family survive during the war.

After reading the first chapter, I recall Ivo Andric's 1945 novel "The Bridge on the Drina" about Muslim-Christian differences in Bosnia. On the one hand, there were moments in history of Christians and Muslims living in peace in Bosnia and some other areas of what was to become Yugoslavia. There were also periods of conflict. Later on in his book, Heleta makes reference of Andric's novel with the same conclusion. Heleta read "The Bridge on the Drina" in an effort to better understand what he was experiencing.

He says that his wartime experience led him to a feeling of extreme hatred. Heleta takes pride in overcoming that animosity to a moderate position, which does not forget the past; without letting it get the best of him.

Towards the end of Heleta's book, he recalls fellow Serbs considering him a traitor for joining an American organization (Peace Trails) and pursuing an education in the United States. I can understand the somewhat misguided discontent of those Serbs. Some Western individuals and organizations involved with the former Yugoslavia have pursued a biased agenda against the Serbs.

An example of this bias is shown by how the Western overseers of Kosovo and Republika Srpska treat the Albanian and Serb leaders. The repackaged Kosovo Liberation Army gets away with suggestively threatening violence if their independence goal is not achieved. Republika Srpska officials are threatened with being fired if they express a separatist desire.

It often seems that the full story of a given conflict is lacking until several years, if not decades after its end. Heleta's book deserves a good reception. Its getting shunned would be a reflection of the kind of one sided Bosnian Civil War coverage detailed by Peter Brock ("Media Cleansing: Dirty Reporting", Graphics Management Press, Los Angeles, 2005) and some other erudite observers.