Sarajevo is a city with a large amount of impressive historical and cultural monuments. There is a lot of things to see and do. But, it’s quite clear that, like most other places in the world, only one part of the city is filled with these touristy, done-up sights. However, this city has so much more to offer. If you want to dig a little deeper and discover what life in Sarajevo truly looks like, make sure you visit some of the not-touristy, and yet interesting locations in Sarajevo.
The Vraca Memorial Park is a park dedicated to the World War II victims in Sarajevo. It covers 78,000 square meters and mentions the names of over 11,000 men, women, and children killed during World War II. Construction began in April 1980 and was finished in November 1981. The Memorial Park was opened on November 25, 1981, the “Day of Statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
The complex was formed around the Austro-Hungarian military fortress built in 1898 in a location marked “Vratca,” which refers to a small door one could use to enter the city.
During occupation in WWII, when Sarajevo found itself part of the quisling NDH, the fortress was turned into a city prison camp and execution site, where Sarajevans were killed, singly or en masse.
Victims killed here, or at other torture sites in town, were buried around and inside the fortress.
When Vraca Memorial Park was opened it had a ceremonial plaza, an overlook, an atrium, a sign indicating the execution site…. In the eastern section there is a monument, Lady Fighter, a statue in honor of the young national heroine, Radojka Lakić, who was tortured and shot by the Ustaše. Her last cry was, “Comrades, don’t give up!”
During the Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1995), Vraca again played a tragic role, and the flame of antifascism was extinguished.
Given the strategic location and good view of the city, the complex was used as one of the firing positions around Sarajevo, from where the city was shelled and snipers operated. During the war, and even after, the complex was largely devastated.
The Committee for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH made the Vraca Memorial Park a National Monument of BiH in 2005.
The “eternal flame of anti-fascism” was relit on Vraca after 27 years, as part of V-E Day celebrations on May 9, 2019.