[The first medical school in Sarajevo (1944-1945)]

During the period of Independent State of Croatia (a population of 6.6 million), the need was recognized of founding a number of medical school beside the Zagreb University School of Medicine. On the initiative and efforts made by Ante Sercer, academician and dean of the Zagreb School of Medicine, preparatory activities for the foundation of medical school in Sarajevo were launched, and it was officially established on March 27, 1944 and opened on November 20, 1944, on the model of the Zagreb School of Medicine which provided great assistance both in organization and equipment. The School enrolled 140 students, while lecturers were recruited among distinguished health professionals and high-school teachers from Sarajevo and young assistant professors from the Zagreb University. Unfortunately, the School was quite short-lived, as it was dissolved by the communist authorities in April 1945. As the existence of the School was actually an expression of the people's need, it was re-established in the next year, with some previous faculty members resuming their teaching activities. However, throughout the period of former Yugoslavia, the very fact of the initial foundation of the School of Medicine in Sarajevo in 1944 was consistently let pass over in silence.