Elie Wiesel questions whether humanity has learned lessons from its experiences and examines our involvement in disasters around the world. It evokes the abject failures of humanity and salutes its successes. Among these failures could include the siege of Sarajevo. This crisis proves that we have learned nothing from our terrible experiences of the 20th century. The Siege of Sarajevo was a destructive conflict that took place from the early 1990s to the mid-1990s. The siege was provoked by the declaration of independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the former Yugoslav federation . The Serbs who lived in this distinct area feared being controlled by the Muslim Slavs who made up the majority of the population, 44 percent of the population. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Serbs quickly armed themselves and began to fight the Muslims. The majority of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina were demolished, with the exception of Sarajevo. On April 6, 1992, Serbian militants injured 30 people and killed at least five civilians when they opened fire on thousands of peace demonstrators in Sarajevo. This sparked a siege that has been called "the worst in Europe since the end of World War II." Roads into and out of Sarajevo were blocked, the airport was closed and around 400,000 residents were trapped in the siege. They were deprived of important supplies, such as food, medicine, water and electricity. The inhabitants almost died of starvation and their only chance of survival was the success of the UN airlift from Sarajevo airport, opened in late June 1992. For a short period, all buildings were either damaged or destroyed , and no civilian was safe from attack. On June 1, 1993, mortar attacks during a football match left at least 15 people dead and 80 others injured. Red Cross trucks were allowed into Sarajevo, but they were attacked and destroyed. On July 12, 1993, 12 people were killed while queuing for water, and the following year, on February 5, 68 people were killed and 200 others were injured in the Sarajevo market , by mortar attacks. By the end of 1993, Bosnian Serbs ruled 75 percent of the country and crimes were committed, ranging from execution to torture, rape and assassination by Serb forces. On May 1, Sarajevo was again rocked by mortar fire and Serbs attacked a UN-monitored weapons collection site. This escalated hostilities to such an extent that NATO planes attacked Serbian ammunition depots on May 25 of the same year. The Bosnian government declared the siege of Sarajevo over on February 29, 1996. But scars still remained on this once-proud city and intellectual center renowned for its multicultural tolerance. The population increased from 650,000 before the war to 220,000. And now the population is recovering, currently at 555,210 inhabitants. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. essayThe crisis of the siege of Sarajevo is proof that we have learned nothing from our experiences of the 20th century. There are countries right now that are trying to declare independence or something that would benefit them, but can't do it without some sort of conflict or argument. We will never learn from our experiences because one way or another we will make mistakes that will affect our environment..