The time has come for Sarajevo Haggadah to be adequately presented to the rest of the world and for her to become as important for Sarajevo as the Mona Lisa is for Paris, Head of the “Haggadah” association Eli Tauber said marking the European Day of Jewish Culture in Sarajevo.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina has many gems with which to attract tourists, and the Sarajevo Haggadah is unique and it has the potential to promote Bosnia in the best possible way,” Tauber said. “An important task is before us and that is to promote the Haggadah to the world. One day I hope to see queues of people waiting to see the Haggadah, just like people wait in front of the Louvre Museum to see the Mona Lisa.”

He pointed out that the Haggadah is the most valuable manuscript in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that its artistic value places it at the top regarding its beauty and originality of the medieval painting. it is also accompanied by unique stories of people from Bosnia who risked their lives to protect the book several times.

Apart from Tauber, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity Tourism Minister Edita Djapo, Acting General Manager of the National Museum Mirsad Sijaric and the Head of the UNESCO office in Bosnia Sinisa Sesum spoke of the Haggadah’s significance and tourist potential.

The Head of the UNESCO office pointed out that the Haggadah is part of the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register and that cultural heritage must be one of the movers of every country’s development.

The Museum General Manager pointed out that Haggadah’s new edition was completed and it should be shipped to the Museum in the coming days.

“This will be the best copy of the Sarajevo Haggadah so far, accompanied by a 300-page study of the book. The first edition is in Bosnian and English language and the French edition is in preparation. We are trying to ensure funds for the translation into Spanish, German and hopefully Hebrew language,” Sijaric noted.