An autobiography of war-time Bitola

Thanks to my dear friend Jim Hlavac from Australia I have recently receieved the English edition of Akchilnica (which literaly translates in little restaurant) by Vera Buzarovska. The English translation done by Paul Filev is titled The Last Summer in the Old Bazaar. The English translation is published by Saguaro Books, Arizona in 2015.

This semi-autobiografical novel talks about live in Bitola, right before and during the Second World War, under German and Bulgarian occupation. It describes the ethnic diversity of the town before the deportation of the large Jewish community to Treblinka. We see all these event through the eyes of an eleven years old girl. She works at a small restaurant in the Old Bazaar together with Sami, who is Albanian and Leon, who is Jewish.

Listen to Jim and Paul talking at the Melburn promotion of the book here.

Children's Voices in War Times

  

Books about war stand as monuments, constant reminders of the devastation that war brings. When that book comes from a child who experienced war, it is an even more powerful cry to stop all violence.

In this post I will present two translated works of non-fiction for children, both from Bosnia: Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in a War Time Sarajevo (2006) by Zlata Filipović, translated by Christina Pribichevich-Zoric; and My Childhood Under Fire (2006) by Nadja Halibegovich, translated by the author herself. Both diaries describe life in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). Both books, autobiographies, are personal stories of what you don't hear in the news. Both authors have been known as Bosnian Anne Frank.

Zlata was only 11 years old when she started keeping a diary in 1991 and never knew there will be a war soon. When the war started the diary, called Mimmy, is her only friend. In 1995 it was published in English translation in UK and the US. Anthony Powers composed a choir work based on the diary.

My Childhood Under Fire is the diary that the 12 year's old Nadja kept between 1992 and 1995. Originally published in Bosnian language, the author translated and published the book in Canada and the US. She is still a peace activist.