Abigail Christensen

Professor Lolene Blake

History 1110
6 October, 2015
The Diary of Zlata Filipovi
The Diary of Zlata Filipovi is a diary that was written by an eleven-year-old Bosnian girl
in the early 1990s. She and her family lived in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
which was war-torn after the end of communist rule in Yugoslavia. The diary, at first, depicts
ordinary events in her life, but gradually, as war consumes her world, it becomes a first hand
account of the horrors of war. Zlatas diary shows the many effects that war has on everyday
innocent civilians, and even though Zlata is only a child, her diary depicts the horror and worry
that can engulf the life of an innocent child when caught up in the violence and terror of war. The
diary sheds light on the brutality of war, and it also shows how war ruins the lives of innocent
people. The overall main points of Zlatas diary are that war is horrible and violent, that war
disrupts the lives of ordinary and innocent civilians, and that children, however young they might
be, are deeply affected by war too.
Many entries in Zlatas diary show the horrible violence of war. Zlata writes that she sees
horrible pictures on T.V. daily. In early 1992, she writes that people everywhere are leaving
Sarajevo because of this. Zlata and her family are forced to hide in a cellar as soldiers fire and
advance into Sarajevo. The post office was lit on fire and the president was kidnapped. Broken
glass was everywhere in the streets. Soon, cars were on fire, and chaos ensued. People were
killed. In May of 1992, there was a horrible attack, and her mother was almost killed. Bodies
were dismembered by Serbian soldiers. A maternity hospital was senselessly burned to the

ground. All of these horrible happenings deeply affected Zlata and her people, and were recorded
by Zlata in her diary.
Zlata also chronicles how the war disrupted the lives of her family and many other
Bosnian people. Zlata writes about the earlier conflict in Dubrovnik, before the war comes to
Sarajevo, People are in shelters, they have no water, no electricity, the phones arent working.
On November 14, 1991, she starts to write about how the conflict is hitting closer and closer to
home. She writes that gasoline is scarce, and that her daddy has to spend hours waiting in line to
get some. Even then, her father sometimes came home empty handed. Zlata tries to do her
homework, but cannot, because she is distracted by gunfire outside their home. Her parents start
stockpiling food and supplies, and her mother is constantly on the phone with scared friends and
family. In March of 1992, it is clear that Sarajevo is on the brink of war. Zlata writes that the city
is barricaded. Food is in short supply. Soon, her friend has been displaced. People in her city are
sent home from work and school early. She wants to go to a music concert, but her teacher is
worried that Zlata could be blown up by a bomb, or taken hostage. There are many rumors that
dangerous conflict is on its way to Sarajevo. Zlatas school is finally closed for good, because it
is too dangerous to risk attending and being killed. Her familys home is later cut off from
electricity. All of these disruptions affected thousands of Bosnian people.
Although Zlata is a young girl and not yet even a teenager, it is clear in her writing that
she is deeply aware and affected by the war all around her. Earlier on in her diary, she writes that
the city Dubrovnik, which is 80 miles away, is being badly shelled. In the beginning, it is clear
that Zlata knew her mommy and daddy were worried. They had family and friends in Dubrovnik,
and they were unable to contact them, even by radio. Even though Zlata admits at her young age
that she didnt understand or care about politics, it is clear that she continues to become more and

more affected by the war. She sees her mother cry while watching the news. Zlata knows war is
coming before it does, and she is terrified for the day it could take over her life. Sadly, she writes
that as the war ends in Dubrovnik, it starts in Sarajevo, and all of her friends and their families
leave. The war has changed everything about her life, and it soon consumes every aspect of her
diary entries.
Zlata started her diary to chronicle her life for herself, as a personal record of everyday
events. Soon, however, her life was consumed by war, and eventually Zlatas diary became a
kind of narrative of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Zlata and her family became known all
over the world, and happily, were able to escape their war-torn country because of her diary. So
although her diary started out as her own personal writings, an ordinary girls diary soon became
a first hand account of a terrifying war. Today, her diary has a worldwide audience and is a firsthand account of a brutal modern war. However, Zlata wrote this information down unaware that
it would be a chronicle read by the world.
Everything Zlata was put through, especially at her age, is completely horrifying. A life
of peace and safety was stolen from her by a terrible war. All of the horrors that Zlata, her family,
and her people have had to go through are unimaginable. Her decision to share her diary with the
world was very important, because it showed people how senseless, violent, and horrible war can
be, and also how war destroys peoples lives. Her diary is a chronicle of many things she and her
people went through. Many of her experiences are summed up in her diary entry on June 29,
1992.
Zlata writes, BOREDOM!!! SHOOTING!!! SHELLING!!! PEOPLE BEING
KILLED!!! DESPAIR!!! HUNGER!!! MISERY!!! FEAR!!! Thats my life... a child without a

childhood. A wartime child I am witnessing an ugly, disgusting war I once heard that
childhood is the most wonderful time of your life and ugly war is taking it all away from me.