(23 Jun 2014) LEADIN:
Sarajevo is marking the centenary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28 1914.
The shooting triggered events which lead to the first World War.
100 years on, his death still divides Bosnians, including school children.
STORYLINE:
Situated along the Miljacka River, Bosnia's capital has a rich and turbulent history.
Today, the streets are peaceful with little hint of what happened here 100 years ago.
A plaque and museum now mark the site where the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife Sophie were killed.
The act was a trigger for World War One and is taught extensively in schools around the world. But in classrooms just few hundred metres away, children only learn a little about this major historic event.
Sarajevo's teachers are required to mention the assassination in one lesson throughout a child's school career. The lesson lasts 45 minutes. The assasination is also described with just a few sentences in a children's history book.
A young Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip pulled the trigger on June 28 1914, killing Ferdinand and his wife. He belonged to an organisation known as "Mlada Bosna" (Young Bosnia)
"In one of our history school-books it is stated that Gavrilo Princip and "Mlada Bosna" were a secret terrorist organisation. And in the other school book, for 4th graders of high school (age 17) this organisation "Mlada Bosna" is not even mentioned at all,' says Sanela Cesko, high school history teacher in Sarajevo city centre school.
Some children are taught about the Sarajevo assassination by their parents or from the internet. Many others pass the assassination site each day without even knowing what happened there and its historical importance.
'He (Gavrilo Princip) was a member of an organisation called Mlada Bosna, which only had "Greater Serbia" ideology behind it. So, he did not assassinate Franz Ferdinand to liberate Bosnia from the occupier, but instead he wanted Bosnia to become a part of Kingdom of Serbia,' says Ermin Lazovic, 15 year old history student.
"I am satisfied with the amount of lectures we get about assassination. This has made Sarajevo famous, it is very important for this city and the state. After all, the World War One broke out after this assassination happened here. So, I think we know enough about it. If someone wants to learn more, there are different books and internet, and you can find information there,' says Ena Hadziahmetovic, a student at Sarajevo high school.
Just 24 kilometres (15 miles) east of Sarajevo, children in the mainly Serbian community of Pale, are taught a completely different lesson.
In Serb history books, Princip is depicted as a hero, a liberator of Serb people, who fought for unification with Serbia.
The events are described in more than 20 pages, and Serb children are well informed about Gavrilo Princip and his organisation "Mlada Bosna".
Mlada Bosna was an organisation which recruited people to push for the unification of Bosnia and Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian empire which ruled Bosnia at the time, did not want to accept that.
14 year old Momir Bratic raises his hand whenever his history teacher in Pale asks any questions related to Princip.
'Gavrilo Princip was a member of Mlada Bosna organisation. He killed heir Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. For me this act� this was a heroic act, that in fact led to liberation of Serb people,'' Bratic says in class.
The role of Gavrilo Princip and his accomplices is extensively taught to children in all high school grades.
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