What Else Can I Do?

by Sam Hall

Title

What Else Can I Do?

Artist

Sam Hall

Medium

Painting - Acrylic

Description

In 1992, when the United Nations, Red Cross, aid agencies and the international press pulled out of Sarajevo because of unacceptable casualties, one man - the New York Times Chief Foreign Correspondent, John F. Burns - decided that he ought to go back because he thought it would be wrong to leave the lawless and dangerous city without an independent witness.
When Burns arrived back at his office, a small boy came up to him and insisted that he follow. At first, Burns protested that he was too busy but the boy was adamant, so Burns followed him. They eventually came to a street scarred by bomb and mortar shell damage in which, sitting on a chair, was a man in full evening dress playing Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni's Adagio in G.
The music was particularly apt as the work was purportedly found amongst the ruins of the old Saxon State Library in Dresden after it was firebombed by the Allies during World War Two.
When the cellist had finished playing, Burns asked him who he was. "And why are you playing here?"
The cellist explained that he was Vedran Smajlovic, the lead cellist for the Sarajevo Symphony Orchestra. He added: "Last week, 22 of my fellow countrymen were queuing for bread here and were killed by a mortar shell - and I don't know what else I can do!"
The background is from my own experience as a war correspondent during the seige of Beirut 1982.

Uploaded

February 13th, 2023

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