The elevator becomes a guillotine

topic:	Arts
located:	Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
editor:	Katarina Panić

Stojanka Kobas was five when her family escaped from the war in Croatia in 1991. They moved to Bosnia where soon the war started too. In summer 1992 there was no electricity for weeks. The six-year-old girl used to play in the elevator. The glass on the external door was broken, and she used to slip her head through the hole. Once she did it to call her friend. The electricity suddenly came. Someone pressed the elevator button, not knowing the girl is inside with her head outside. The girl was so tiny that the system itself recognised the lift as empty. But it was not. The little one was beheaded. Today, 28 years later, her blood is still on the wall in the building called "red skyscraper" in the Bosnian town of Prijedor.

A few months ago, the journalist of Spiegel wanted to take a picture of those blood traces with his mobile, but his hands started to shake. He came to Prijedor to interview Darko Cvijetić, an actor, theatre director, dramaturg, poet and novelist. Darko lives in this building ever since its construction was finished in 1975. He is one of the eight shortlisted authors to 2020 European Poet of Freedom Literary Award which was scheduled this month in the City of Gdansk, Poland. His debut novel "Schindler's Lift" is published a year and a half ago and in a short time, it attracted enormous attention. Chapter six describes the horrific elevator scene. Whereas the locals still remember the tragedy, non-local readers and media are being most affected by that devastating picture.

The novel is getting excellent critics worldwide. It won the Zagreb-based Fric prize as well as Banjaluka and Belgrade-based Kočić's Pen prize, some of the most prominent literary awards in Balkan region. Sarajevo-based theatre "Kamerni 55" is preparing the play based on the novel. Famous director form Belgrade Kokan Mladenović will direct it. Only in Darko's hometown, not a single institution recognised his work. The novel is blacklisted since it reminds of the crimes committed by the same ethnic group, which currently is the majority in this area. It seems this ignorance is not the worst thing that might happen to the novel.

Namely, it is already translated into ten languages. The German edition is supposed to be soon onto the market, but something went wrong. The title of the book has strongly reminiscent of the renowned Steven Spielberg's historical movie "Schindler`s List". The Swiss multinational company that produces elevators has the same name for its brand. They asked their respected name not to be mentioned related to holocaust, Bosnia's war nor the little girl`s death. They announced a lawsuit otherwise. Their elevator is not a guillotine.

Image: UltimaTula - Vlastito djelo, cc

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