The cellist of Sarajevo.

And what he teaches us about destruction, hope, and beauty.

It was spring, 1992.

The Bosnian war was just getting started, and it had already claimed too many lives. By May, it had engulfed the beautiful and historic city of Sarajevo. The area was under siege.

Then came May 27.

Famished, feeble, and frustrated, the citizens of Sarajevo were forced to wait in bread lines for food. With no regard for life, the Bosnian Serb Army engaged in a series of attacks, indiscriminately launching mortars into the heart of the city. One mortar struck one of the bread lines, killing at least 22 people and wounding over 100 others.

The results were gruesome.

“The television showed severely wounded people, some with severed limbs, waiting for assistance that was delayed when ambulance crews attempting to reach the scene came under sniper fire,” the New York Times reported at the time.

The people were at a loss. “What do we do?”

That’s when a man named Vedran Smailovic decided to step in. He couldn’t not. He was tired of the death all around him. The rot. The dar…