(Potential spoilers)
I first heard about Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo from reading the book Freedom Writers a couple of years ago. Erin Grewell’s students at their high school in Long Beach had used Zlata’s Diary as a model for their own writing. Like many people, I heard about Freedom Writers from the film of the same name that came out a few years ago and starred Hilary Swank. Grewell’s class studied the Holocaust, the Nazi persecution of Jews and Anne Frank’s diary in particular. They considered Zlata Filipovic to be a modern-day Anne Frank who recorded her life as she lived through the first few years of the siege of Sarajevo. Zlata also acknowledges this comparison in her diary, but hopes she doesn’t suffer the same fate as Anne Frank. I like reading about real life, even very difficult real life like that described in Freedom Writers and Zlata’s Diary. It puts more personal perspective on the events in the news.
Zlata never planned to write a world-famous account of surviving a war. In the late summer of 1991 before there is any hint of a war she starts a diary to record her life and her life as an only child of upper middle class parents seems very happy. She has school, activities, friends, and interests in pop culture. Her life seems like that of a normal 11-year-old, maybe just a bit different because she lives in a foreign country. In December 1991 she writes about being home sick in bed and listening to “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson on the radio and how she’s considering joining a Madonna fan club. I thought that Michael Jackson’s song “Black or White” would be the one playing on the radio in 1991. Maybe they have different pop culture trends in Yugoslavia. Their version of Monopoly is also a little bit different. The highest bills are the red notes for 5,000 each (she doesn’t give the currency) and the properties have names like Place de Geneve and Cote D’Azure. I’m not sure if that’s French or Croat or the language that they speak. They seem to use many consonants such as for the first name Srdjan and last name Lajtner, and place name Crnotina. I’d like to know how some of these names are pronounced.
By spring 1992 Zlata’s diary gets a name: Mimmy; but the tone of the diary changes for a different reason. The war begins, first in other towns such as Dubrovnik but by April or May 1992 it reaches Sarajevo. From Zlata’s perspective the war consists of shooting, shelling, buildings destroyed, and lives lost or destroyed. Zlata has to stay indoors as her home becomes a makeshift bunker. It’s a life most of us couldn’t even imagine and it’s just as hard on her parents. The gas, electricity, and water are all unreliable. In the wintertime they have to sleep in the kitchen because it’s the warmest room in their apartment at 63.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Many of her friends leave the country and some are killed by shelling. Telephone and mail service are also unreliable. She mentions how her loved ones die and she doesn’t even know about it, how all her friends and relatives have been split up and she can’t even keep in touch with anyone except her neighbors.
In all the turmoil, Zlata, her parents, their neighbors, and the few friends that she sometimes gets to see try to carve out a life that’s as close to normal as possible, though it’s very far from normal. They organize a summer school, play lots of cards and games, and adopt and care for pets as best they can. They even give a name, “Jovo”, to a sniper whose shooting they hear in their area (though I don’t think they actually meet the sniper). “(Jovo) was in a playful mood today.” Zlata writes on April 28, 1993. Though the fun-loving side that she showed before the war is greatly diminished, she doesn’t lose it entirely. On July 30, 1993 she writes about seeing all the different contraptions people use to haul water. The topper is a sled on roller skates. She and the others refer to the politicians that are partially responsible for the situation as “kids”. She writes in November 1992 how “The ‘kids’ are playing, which is why us real kids are not playing . . .”
Zlata’s Diary includes a lot of wisdom beyond her years, probably developed by the situation she and her parents are in. On September 2, 1993 she writes, “Someone once said that books are the greatest treasure, the greatest friend one has. The Vjecnica (a library) was such a treasure trove. We had many friends there.” (p. 182-183) She also describes earlier how politics is conducted by “grown-ups” and she is “young”. She doesn’t understand politics, but she still thinks the “young” would do a better job if they were in charge. They wouldn’t have chosen war.
Zlata’s Diary gives a unique perspective of someone directly affected by an ongoing conflict. Her account is more personal than a journalist or detached writer writing about a war. Zlata describes the sights, smells, and sounds such as the streets all quiet because everyone is hiding and the screeching sounds of the wheeled contraptions hauling water. Food mostly consists of rice, beans, and pasta without sauce. She misses fruit. I think the saddest part is that after page 40, the war just goes on and on. The book spans September 1991 to October 1993 and the siege of Sarajevo lasted from 1992 to 1996. Zlata writes about early versions of her diary getting published. Mimmy starts to bring her fame and in July 1993 Zlata is even filmed as the “Person of the Week” on ABC News.
Zlata did not suffer the same fate as Anne Frank. She got out alive, first moving to Paris and eventually settling in Ireland. But the happy childhood she had known from before the war was forever lost. She never wanted her diary to make her world-famous and without the war, it probably never would have. But she does give a voice to children all over the world who live in war zones.
I first heard about Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo from reading the book Freedom Writers a couple of years ago. Erin Grewell’s students at their high school in Long Beach had used Zlata’s Diary as a model for their own writing. Like many people, I heard about Freedom Writers from the film of the same name that came out a few years ago and starred Hilary Swank. Grewell’s class studied the Holocaust, the Nazi persecution of Jews and Anne Frank’s diary in particular. They considered Zlata Filipovic to be a modern-day Anne Frank who recorded her life as she lived through the first few years of the siege of Sarajevo. Zlata also acknowledges this comparison in her diary, but hopes she doesn’t suffer the same fate as Anne Frank. I like reading about real life, even very difficult real life like that described in Freedom Writers and Zlata’s Diary. It puts more personal perspective on the events in the news.
Zlata never planned to write a world-famous account of surviving a war. In the late summer of 1991 before there is any hint of a war she starts a diary to record her life and her life as an only child of upper middle class parents seems very happy. She has school, activities, friends, and interests in pop culture. Her life seems like that of a normal 11-year-old, maybe just a bit different because she lives in a foreign country. In December 1991 she writes about being home sick in bed and listening to “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson on the radio and how she’s considering joining a Madonna fan club. I thought that Michael Jackson’s song “Black or White” would be the one playing on the radio in 1991. Maybe they have different pop culture trends in Yugoslavia. Their version of Monopoly is also a little bit different. The highest bills are the red notes for 5,000 each (she doesn’t give the currency) and the properties have names like Place de Geneve and Cote D’Azure. I’m not sure if that’s French or Croat or the language that they speak. They seem to use many consonants such as for the first name Srdjan and last name Lajtner, and place name Crnotina. I’d like to know how some of these names are pronounced.
By spring 1992 Zlata’s diary gets a name: Mimmy; but the tone of the diary changes for a different reason. The war begins, first in other towns such as Dubrovnik but by April or May 1992 it reaches Sarajevo. From Zlata’s perspective the war consists of shooting, shelling, buildings destroyed, and lives lost or destroyed. Zlata has to stay indoors as her home becomes a makeshift bunker. It’s a life most of us couldn’t even imagine and it’s just as hard on her parents. The gas, electricity, and water are all unreliable. In the wintertime they have to sleep in the kitchen because it’s the warmest room in their apartment at 63.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Many of her friends leave the country and some are killed by shelling. Telephone and mail service are also unreliable. She mentions how her loved ones die and she doesn’t even know about it, how all her friends and relatives have been split up and she can’t even keep in touch with anyone except her neighbors.
In all the turmoil, Zlata, her parents, their neighbors, and the few friends that she sometimes gets to see try to carve out a life that’s as close to normal as possible, though it’s very far from normal. They organize a summer school, play lots of cards and games, and adopt and care for pets as best they can. They even give a name, “Jovo”, to a sniper whose shooting they hear in their area (though I don’t think they actually meet the sniper). “(Jovo) was in a playful mood today.” Zlata writes on April 28, 1993. Though the fun-loving side that she showed before the war is greatly diminished, she doesn’t lose it entirely. On July 30, 1993 she writes about seeing all the different contraptions people use to haul water. The topper is a sled on roller skates. She and the others refer to the politicians that are partially responsible for the situation as “kids”. She writes in November 1992 how “The ‘kids’ are playing, which is why us real kids are not playing . . .”
Zlata’s Diary includes a lot of wisdom beyond her years, probably developed by the situation she and her parents are in. On September 2, 1993 she writes, “Someone once said that books are the greatest treasure, the greatest friend one has. The Vjecnica (a library) was such a treasure trove. We had many friends there.” (p. 182-183) She also describes earlier how politics is conducted by “grown-ups” and she is “young”. She doesn’t understand politics, but she still thinks the “young” would do a better job if they were in charge. They wouldn’t have chosen war.
Zlata’s Diary gives a unique perspective of someone directly affected by an ongoing conflict. Her account is more personal than a journalist or detached writer writing about a war. Zlata describes the sights, smells, and sounds such as the streets all quiet because everyone is hiding and the screeching sounds of the wheeled contraptions hauling water. Food mostly consists of rice, beans, and pasta without sauce. She misses fruit. I think the saddest part is that after page 40, the war just goes on and on. The book spans September 1991 to October 1993 and the siege of Sarajevo lasted from 1992 to 1996. Zlata writes about early versions of her diary getting published. Mimmy starts to bring her fame and in July 1993 Zlata is even filmed as the “Person of the Week” on ABC News.
Zlata did not suffer the same fate as Anne Frank. She got out alive, first moving to Paris and eventually settling in Ireland. But the happy childhood she had known from before the war was forever lost. She never wanted her diary to make her world-famous and without the war, it probably never would have. But she does give a voice to children all over the world who live in war zones.
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