From 1992-1995, the northern Bosnian town of Maglaj was under brutal siege from the forces of the Serb army. In 1993, the Croatian militia, the HVO, collaborated with the Serb army in attempting to destroy the enclave. The HVO and the army of the Republika Srpska loaned one another tanks and other weapons during the siege. Below are scenes of the multireligous Maglaj before the Boban-Karadzic siege, with views of Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Albanians and others living, working, and playing together, followed by a view of one of the mosques subjected to sustained shelling from Serbian army forces.

These photos were taken by Joel Halpern and make up part of the exhibit entitled The Thin Veneer. Photos and captions are from the catalogue: The Thin Veneer: The Peoples of Bosnia and their Disappearing Cultural Heritage (ISBN 0-929597-11-7) with the permission of Professor Halpern, who holds the copyright, and with the permission of University Gallery at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which hosted the original exhibit from April 13-June 7, 1997. The Halpern photographs offer a glimpse into Bosnians in both their full humanity and their fullness as social beings, social beings whose humanity and community joined them across religious boundaries.

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Below is an image of one of the ancient mosques severely damaged during the siege of Maglaj:

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