ARHIVSKI VJESNIK 37. (ZAGREB, 1994.)

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M. Pandžić, Some experiences and problems... Arh. vjesn., god. 37 (1994) str. 69-78 d) Archives of little value for small areas inside a country or a town, for research of local history (basic information is already contained in categories a. and c). e) A local Category for archival documents of minor or little value to a town, village or local personalities, of local value, that could be preserved in copies. These materials are often in great danger! 8. Collaboration and co-operation at international, national, regional and local level is desirable and necessary if we wish to help members of ICA confront the risk associated with disasters, including armed conflict where there is a danger of losing whole archives, as has happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Sarajevo an internationally known and valuable collection of some 20,000 or 30,000 oriental manuscripts has been destroyed, many monastery archives and other church archives of all confessions (Moslem, Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish) have been the victims of the war. In Sarajevo the Jewish museum was heavily damaged, perhaps totally destroyed, as was the Library of the Bosnian University and the whole Mostar Archives of Herzegovina as well as the bishop's library. In Croatia, many towns such as Vukovar together with about 500 small towns and villages have been either totally destroyed or heavily damaged. Old cities like Zadar, known in Roman times, and Šibenik (Sebenico) with many medieval monuments, have also suffered. Even now (in Eastern Slavonia, Croatia on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina) bombardment and fighting is still going on. Many record offices, school archives and libraries, church archives and other archival institution (Dubrovnik, Osijek, Karlovac, Vukovar, Vinkovci) have been destroyed or damaged, one third of the territory of Croatia is still under occupation and it is still not possible to estimate the total value of the damage and loss. It seems that there are similar situations in other regions of Europe, Cambodia, in Asia and Africa which are at war or facing the possibility of armed conflict. In the last issue of Informatica museologica published in Zagreb (in 1993) by the Museum Documentation Centre, under the title "War destruction of Cultural Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina", there can be seen in a short but impressive article "Destruction of Multicultural City: Sarajevo", by Nina Pirnat Spahić, some general statistical data about damaged or destroyed important administrative, cultural business or religious buildings, each having some valuable historical or contemporary documentation, archival or library material. 41 administrative buildings, 13 cultural institutions, 21 faculties, 31 primary schools, 12 high scholls, 56 Islamic religious buildings, 11 Catholic religious buildings, 4 Serbian orthodox religious buildings, 3 Jewish religious buildings, all of them in Sarajevo, are known to be affected up to 1992. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 760 Mosques, 250 Islamic primary and high schools, 6 monasteries, 7 mausoleums (Islamic) and 56 Catholic religious buildings are also affected. The count is probably higher but further statistics are not available at this time. (See also Croatia-Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sacral Institutions on Target; Some Moslem estimations are going up to 1000 damaged or destroyed Sacral buildings in this war.) The TV Archive of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo is "likely to be either badly damaged or totally destroyed". Branko Bubenik, head of Croatian TV Archive in Zagreb, 74