The Eternal flame is a memorial to the military and civilian victims of the Second World War in Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

. The memorial was dedicated on 6 April 1946, the first anniversary of the liberation of Sarajevo from the four year long occupation by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 and the Independent State of Croatia

Independent State of Croatia

The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...

.

The memorial is located in the centre of Sarajevo at the corner the Marshall Tito street and the main Sarajevo pedestrian street, Ferhadija.

In the very early morning of Sunday, 2 January 2011, the Vječna vatra was suddenly, freakishly extinguished by (or self-extinguished before) a gathering of revellers, who quickly scattered. Yet, the Eternal flame was heroically reignited less than 20 seconds later by a passing tourist, who witnessed what had happened and ran up to risk life and limb in order to preserve the great Yugoslav memorial's continuity.

Inscription

Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian

English

Hrabrošću I Zajednički Prolivenom Krvlju Boraca Bosansko-Hercegovačkih, Hrvatskih, Crnogorskih I Srpskih Brigada Slavne Jugoslavenske Armije, Zajedničkim Naporima I Žrtvama Sarajevskih Rodoljuba Srba, Muslimana I Hrvata 6 Aprila 1945 Oslobođeno Je Sarajevo Glavni Grad Narodne Republike Bosne I Hercegovine Vječna Slava I Hvala Palim Junacima za Oslobođenje Sarajeva I Naše Otažbine O Prvoj Godišnjici Svoga Oslobođenja Zahvalno Sarajevo

With Courage and the Jointly Spilled Blood of the Fighters of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian Brigades of the Glorious Yugoslav National Army; with the Joint Efforts and Sacrifices of Sarajevan Patriots Serbs, Muslims and Croats on the 6th of April 1945 Sarajevo, the Capital City of the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was liberated. Eternal Glory and Gratitude to the Fallen Heroes of the liberation of Sarajevo and our Homeland, On the First Anniversary of its Liberation-- a Grateful Sarajevo