Author: Peter Maass

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post.

Sarajevo Readers Crowd Front-Line U.S. Library; Shivering Bosnians Down a Dose of Culture

The Washington Post
January 5, 1993

SARAJEVO – Sniper fire is crackling along the frozen street and mortar rounds are exploding nearby when a passerby has a sudden urge to read a few lines of T. S. Eliot.

No problem. The American Cultural Center is close at hand, open for business a few hundered ...  (Read more)

U.N. Leader Reviled in Sarajevo; Bosnian Muslims Accuse Boutros-Ghali of Abetting Their Misery

The Washington Post
January 1, 1993

SARAJEVO, December 31 – Amid jeers, hoots and shouts of “killer,” U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali visited this shivering city today and was met by a cold blast of resentment from a besieged people who believe the United Nations has ...  (Read more)

Hostility Toward U.N. Builds in Sarajevo; Troops Said to Be Aiding ‘Serb Aggressor’

The Washington Post
December 31, 1992

SARAJEVO, December 30 – There will be a frosty reception for U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali when he visits this besieged city Thursday, and it will have nothing to do with the sub-zero temperatures.

“We do not consider him a friend of Bosnia-Herzegovina,” ...  (Read more)

U.N. Keepers of the Siege: Relief Troops Bar Escape From Sarajevo

The Washington Post
December 30, 1992

SARAJEVO – Every night, hundreds of exhausted men, women and children try to flee this besieged, freezing city on a dangerous escape route that crosses the airport tarmac. Most are stopped by well-armed troops who force them back to the ruins of Sarajevo, ...  (Read more)

No Panic in Britain’s Thin Red Bosnian Line; U.N. Support Troops Dispute Their Vulnerability to Serb Attacks

The Washington Post
December 28, 1992

VITEZ, Bosnia – It was, as a British officer might say, a cracking good show.

During a recent patrol near the northeast Bosnian city of Tuzla, a convoy of British Warrior armored fighting vehicles was ambushed by Serb militia forces. The Serbs opened fire ...  (Read more)

In Sarajevo, a Christmas Under Siege; Croat Family Celebrates Despite Shortages and Fear

The Washington Post
December 26, 1992

SARAJEVO, December 25 – Karlo and Janja Pelzl went to Christmas Mass this morning, but they went to separate churches. It had nothing to do with religious differences or a marital spat.

The Pelzls were afraid that if they went to the same church and it was ...  (Read more)

U.N. Chief in Bosnia Wakens to Holiday Barrage; Relief Force Commanders Decry Western Efforts to Bring Peace to Shattered Republic

The Washington Post
December 26, 1992

SARAJEVO, Dec. 25 – The commander of U.N. relief forces in Bosnia, in a glum Christmas discussion of prospects for peace in this war-torn republic, said today that his quarters were shelled twice in the past 24 hours and that only a “miracle” had ...  (Read more)