ROBERT HUFFSTUTTER says:
TEXT BY FelixSS
Sarajevo - Multireligious, Multicultural
Sarajevo, a city where "the East Meets the West", once was a perfect example of the multireligious diversity. There, in spite of adversities, for centuries coexisted Muslims, Christians, and Jews. This picture shows an Ashkenazic Jewish synagogue, Catholic and Orthodox cathedrals, as well as graceful minarets of the Sunni Islam's numerous places of worship. Temples, churches, mosques . . . sitting almost next to each other.
The first to disapear from the city's religious caleidoscope were Lutheran Protestants. They were mainly Austrians who left during the WWI when the Habsburgs' rule over Bosnia ended. The magnificient Lutheran church in Sarajevo is now an Art Academy.
Before the World Wars the Jews composed around 12% of the Sarajevo's population. The majority of them were Sephardic whilest the tiny minority were Ashkenazic Jews. Mass murders in the WWII Holocaust sharply decreased Sarajevo's Jewish population to less than 0.2%. Today none of the several Sephardic temples is in the religious use: one became a public university, another is an art gallery, the third is a Jewish Museum.
The 1992-1995 Bosnian war cut hugely on Sarajevo's Christians, the Croats and Serbs who together composed more than 50% percent of the Sarajevans before the civil war. They shrunk to about 10% at the end of the first decade of the 20th century. The Muslim Bosniaks are composing the rest of the city's population, like in the days of the Turkish Ottoman rule some 150 years ago. So 'magistra historia' made the 360 degrees circle.
ROBERT HUFFSTUTTER says:
UNIQUE, UPLIFTING AND ORIGINAL.
Your photographic creation conjures up some fantastic memories.
Remembering San Francisco and the fun I had throughout this city by the bay makes my mind glow with the colors of our flag and then some.
San Francisco is a great place to have seen in one's youth. Savoring those memories 50 years later is gratifying and satisfying.
I will never forget my first sight of the bay from Telegraph Hill in 1960. If only more of those in our government had noticed the peace sign, more of our friends and relation would be here to celebrate our freedom.
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