Table of Contents
PENGUIN BOOKS
Title Page
Copyright Page
Preface
Introduction
Monday, September 2, 1991
Tuesday, September 10, 1991
Thursday, September 19, 1991
Monday, September 23, 1991
Friday, September 27, 1991
Sunday, September 29, 1991
Sunday, October 6, 1991
Friday, October 11, 1991
Sunday, October 13, 1991
Saturday, October 19, 1991
Tuesday, October 22, 1991
Wednesday, October 23, 1991
Wednesday, October 30, 1991
Tuesday, November 5, 1991
Friday, November 8, 1991
Sunday, November 10, 1991
Tuesday, November 12, 1991
Thursday, November 14, 1991
Wednesday, November 20, 1991
Wednesday, November 27, 1991
Friday, November 29, 1991
Monday, December 2, 1991
Tuesday, December 3, 1991
Wednesday, December 4, 1991
Thursday, December 5, 1991
Saturday, December 7, 1991
Monday, December 9, 1991
Wednesday, December 11, 1991
Saturday, December 14, 1991
Thursday, December 19, 1991
Thursday, December 26, 1991
Monday, December 30, 1991
Wednesday, January 1, 1992
Saturday, January 4, 1992
Sunday, January 5, 1992
Monday, January 13, 1992
Tuesday, January 14, 1992
Thursday, January 16, 1992
Thursday, January 23, 1992
Sunday, January 26, 1992
Tuesday, January 28, 1992
Sunday, February 2, 1992
Tuesday, February 4, 1992
Wednesday, February 15, 1992
Thursday, March 5, 1992
Friday, March 6, 1992
Tuesday, March 24, 1992
Monday, March 30, 1992
Friday, April 3, 1992
Saturday, April 4, 1992
Sunday, April 5, 1992
Monday, April 6, 1992
Thursday, April 9, 1992
Sunday, April 12, 1992
Tuesday, April 14, 1992
Wednesday, April 15, 1992
Thursday, April 16, 1992
Saturday, April 18, 1992
Monday, April 20, 1992
Tuesday, April 21, 1992
Wednesday, April 22, 1992
Sunday, April 26, 1992
Tuesday, April 28, 1992
Wednesday, April 29, 1992
Saturday, May 2, 1992
Sunday, May 3, 1992
Tuesday, May, 5, 1992
Thursday, May, 7 1992
Wednesday, May 13, 1992
Thursday, May 14, 1992
Sunday, May 17, 1992
Wednesday, May 20, 1992
Thursday, May 21, 1992
Saturday, May 23, 1992
Tuesday, May 26, 1992
Wednesday, May 27, 1992
Thursday, May 28, 1992
Friday, May 29, 1992
Saturday, May 30, 1992
Monday, June 1, 1992
Friday, June 5, 1992
Wednesday, June 10, 1992
Sunday, June 14, 1992
Tuesday, June 16, 1992
Thursday, June 18, 1992
Saturday, June 20, 1992
Monday, June 22, 1992
Tuesday, June 23, 1992
Wednesday, June 24, 1992
Monday, June 29, 1992
Thursday, July 2, 1992
Friday, July 3, 1992
Sunday, July 5, 1992
Tuesday, July 7, 1992
Saturday, July 11, 1992
Tuesday, July 14, 1992
Friday, July 17, 1992
Saturday, July 18, 1992
Monday, July 20, 1992
Sunday, July 26, 1992
Wednesday, July 29, 1992
Tuesday, August 4, 1992
Wednesday, August 5, 1992
Friday, August 7, 1992
Monday, August 10, 1992
Tuesday, August 11, 1992
Friday, August 14, 1992
Sunday, August 16, 1992
Tuesday, August 18, 1992
Friday, August 21, 1992
Tuesday, August 25, 1992
Saturday, August 29, 1992
Thursday, September 3, 1992
Tuesday, September 8, 1992
Saturday, September 12, 1992
Sunday, September 13, 1992
Monday, September 14, 1992
Tuesday, September 15, 1992
Thursday, September 17, 1992
Friday, September 18, 1992
Saturday, September 19, 1992
Sunday, September 20, 1992
Monday, September 21, 1992
Monday, September 28, 1992
Wednesday, September 30, 1992
Thursday, October 1, 1992
Sunday, October 4, 1992
Monday, October 5, 1992
Wednesday, October 7, 1992
Sunday, October 11, 1992
Wednesday, October 14, 1992
Friday, October 16, 1992
Wednesday, October 21, 1992
Saturday, October 24, 1992
Monday, October 26, 1992
Tuesday, October 27, 1992
Thursday, October 29, 1992
Monday, November 2, 1992
Friday, November 6, 1991
Friday, November 13, 1992
Sunday, November 15, 1992
Tuesday, November 17, 1992
Thursday, November 19, 1992
Friday, November 20, 1992
Wednesday, November 25, 1992
Sunday, November 29, 1992
Thursday, December 3, 1992
Friday, December 4, 1992
Sunday, December 6, 1992
Thursday, December 10, 1992
Tuesday, December 15, 1992
Friday, December 18, 1992
Wednesday, December 23, 1992
Friday, December 25, 1992
Saturday, December 26, 1992
Monday, December 28, 1992
Wednesday, December 30, 1992
Friday, January 1, 1993
Tuesday, January 5, 1993
Wednesday, January 6, 1993
Friday, January 8, 1993
Saturday, January 9, 1993
Monday, January 11, 1993
Friday, January 15, 1993
Sunday, January 24, 1993
Tuesday, January 26, 1993
Monday, February 1, 1993
Friday, February 5, 1993
Monday, February 8, 1993
Friday, February 12, 1993
Monday, February 15, 1993
Saturday, February 20, 1993
Tuesday, February 23, 1993
Thursday, February 25, 1993
Monday, March 1, 1993
Friday, March 5, 1993
Wednesday, March 10, 1993
Monday, March 15, 1993
Friday, March 19, 1993
Thursday, March 25, 1993
Saturday, March 27, 1993
Monday, April 5, 1993
Thursday, April 8, 1993
Thursday, April 15, 1993
Saturday, April 17, 1993
Monday, April 19, 1993
Sunday, April 25, 1993
Tuesday, April 27, 1993
Wednesday, April 28, 1993
Sunday, May 2, 1993
Monday, May 3, 1993
Tuesday, May 4, 1993
Thursday, May 6, 199
3
Saturday, May 8, 1993
Friday, May 14, 1993
Monday, May 17, 1993
Thursday, May 20, 1993
Tuesday, May 25, 1993
Monday, May 31, 1993
Tuesday, June 1, 1993
Tuesday, June 8, 1993
Thursday, June 10, 1993
Sunday, June 13, 1993
Tuesday, June 22, 1993
Saturday, June 26, 1993
Friday, July 2, 1993
Wednesday, July 7, 1993
Saturday, July 10, 1993
Tuesday, July 13, 1993
Thursday, July 15, 1993
Saturday, July 17, 1993
Friday, July 23, 1993
Tuesday, July 27, 1993
Friday, July 30, 1993
Monday, August 2, 1993
Friday, August 6, 1993
Sunday, August 8, 1993
Tuesday, August 10, 1993
Wednesday, August 11, 1993
Friday, August 13, 1993
Sunday, August 15, 1993
Tuesday, August 17, 1993
Wednesday, August 18, 1993
Thursday, August 19, 1993
Saturday, August 21, 1993
Thursday, August 26, 1993
Friday, August 27, 1993
Thursday, September 2, 1993
Saturday, September 4, 1993
Sunday, September 5, 1993
Monday, September 6, 1993
Wednesday, September 8, 1993
Thursday, September 9, 1993
Wednesday, September 15, 1993
Friday, September 17, 1993
Sunday, September 19, 1993
Monday, September 20, 1993
Tuesday, September 21, 1993
Wednesday, September 22, 1993
Saturday, September 25, 1993
Wednesday, September 29, 1993
Monday, October 4, 1993
Thursday, October 7, 1993
Tuesday, October 12, 1993
Wednesday, October 13, 1993
Thursday, October 14, 1993
Sunday, October 17, 1993
Epilogue
Credits for Photographs
Praise for Zlata’s Diary
“Heartrending”
—The San Diego Union-Tribune
“[This book is] written in pure innocence and desperation, and one longs to protect it, much as one would a child.... Touching.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Ebullient and accomplished.... With a precision and vision beyond her years ... Zlata brings Sarajevo home as no news report can.”
—Booklist
“The harsh realities of the Bosnian conflict are brought to life in this chronicle.... Recommended.”
—Library Journal
“Moving”
—The Washington Post
“[Filipovic’s] story is a jarring one of hunger, fear, and cold.... Striking.”
—The Christian Science Monitor
“[Zlata is] a gifted young writer.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“[Zlata’s Diary] is a warm-hearted and wide-eyed view of gathering horror written by a precociously mature teenager.”
—The New York Review of Books
PENGUIN BOOKS
ZLATA’S DIARY
Zlata Filipovic wrote her diary over a two-year period, from September 1991 to October 1993. Originally published in Croat, Zlata’s Diary has appeared throughout the world. She and her parents were allowed to leave Sarajevo just before Christmas, 1993. They are now living in Ireland.
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England
First published in Great Britain by Penguin Books Ltd. 1994
First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin,
a division of Penguin Books USA Inc., 1994
Published in Penguin Books (U.S.A.) 1995
This edition with a new preface published in Penguin Books 2006
10
Preface copyright © Zlata Filipović, 2006
Translation copyright © Fixot et editions Robert Laffont, 1994 Introduction copyright © Janine di Giovanni, 1994
All rights reserved
Originally published in France as Le Journal de Zlata by Fixot et editions Robert Laffont.
Copyright © Fixot et editions Robert Laffont, 1993.
eISBN : 978-1-101-00697-9
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Preface
Dublin, June 2005
First of all, let me thank you for picking up this book. In some ways it seems like a long time ago that it was written, being a record of a conflict that many people have forgotten about and that has been replaced in our collective memory by numerous other conflicts. I still find it baffling that this diary—these scribblings of mine that I originally started writing for myself—even became a book, let alone that people are still reading it today.
I also want to thank all those who wrote to me, the large number of young people and adults who read my diary and were somehow touched by the story, who reacted to it and wrote me many e-mails and letters. I tried to answer as many as I could, but I did not manage to respond to all of them, and I dedicate this new preface to you all.
When the war began in my native Sarajevo, I always said that my life was cut into two—the period before the war and the period since the war began which I, like so many people from my country, still feel has not ended. The year 2005 marks the tenth anniversary since the war ended in Bosnia, and somehow we all still commemorate these anniversaries , remember these dates—the day the war began, the day we had our first real day of shooting, the day my mom barely escaped death, the day various friends and family members were killed, the day we got our first aid package, the day my parents and I left Bosnia, the day the peace treaty was signed. All these dates are so ingrained in me that each time such a day comes in the year, the first thought of that day is dedicated to the significance of it. Maybe that is just the destiny of a diary writer, someone obsessed by dates, but maybe it is also because the war and everything surrounding it is the biggest thing I have ever experienced, and will always remain one of the most important experiences of my life.
It is strange looking back it on it all now, with the perspective of time, with me that much older. I have not changed much. I feel happy that I am no longer sporting the haircut that still graces the cover of this book (let’s face it, no one likes seeing a picture of themselves when they were twelve or thirteen—let alone o
n the cover of a book!). The story continues after my departure from Sarajevo and includes several cities and many new experiences. I went to high school in Paris until my family and I moved to Dublin, Ireland, in October 1995 (this year is another anniversary—my ten-year anniversary of living in Dublin). I went to school there, picked up the pieces of my childhood which turned into quite fun teenage years, and ended up going to college in Oxford, England, when I was seventeen. Getting back to school and being a schoolgirl again, something I wanted so badly in the middle of the war, happened without much difficulty—in fact, most young people who left the war and had had their educations interrupted ended up compensating really quickly and well—maybe we were all very hungry for learning. Three glorious years went by in Oxford, whereupon I came back to Dublin, earned a postgraduate degree in International Peace Studies (unsurprisingly!) and I am slowly starting my grown-up career.
I often wonder why it was my diary that was published, when there must have been thousands of others written in Sarajevo, diaries that were probably more fluent and packed with events more grave and devastating than those that my family and I, in our luck, escaped. Somehow, it ended up being mine, so when I managed to leave Sarajevo after two years of war, I felt a responsibility to talk, to tell the story, the truth, to let the people know. Somewhat accidentally, at the age of thirteen, I became a spokesperson for what was going on in my country. I believed that those who would hear me would do something to stop it. So many children stayed behind, continued suffering, and they did not have a chance to escape and speak out. Cold and hungry, they were being killed every day and a great injustice was happening—the total toll of dead in the Bosnian war is thought to be 250,000. My own friends and many members of my family stayed behind, and even though it was rather strange to be a spokesperson at the age of thirteen, I did it because I thought of them and all the people who were not lucky enough to have a chance to leave the war.
So I spoke. I spoke on radio and television. I spoke to newspapers. I spoke in schools, universities, at conferences and dinners, to politicians and “ordinary” people. I continued speaking even when my parents and I moved to Ireland, even when the war in Bosnia officially ended in 1995, because I felt it was important for people to hear about what it is like to be living in war, without freedom, without a normal life, with constant fear. People have often asked me whether I find it painful to recount my own experiences over and over again—wouldn’t I like to leave it all behind and make a life that did not include the war? For me, speaking about the war, raising awareness about conflict and in particular, children and ordinary people caught in the conflict, is almost a physical part of me, one I wear every day like my own brown hair.