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THE LOST CHILDREN OF THE WORLD

Disclaimer

This book is set in a background of actual geographical

locations and a historical time frame, including prominent

figures to speculate on possible political and moral issues.

However, the crime suspense thriller story is fictitious and

persons in this work are merely background historical features.

Any resemblances to literal events or actions by people, living

or dead are entirely fictitious.

Copyright © 2012 Ernie Hasler

All rights reserved.

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Foreword

This story is a compelling and chilling crime suspense

fiction about the evil world we live in, beginning in the hills

above Sarajevo a few months before the savage siege

began in nineteen ninety two.

There is no particular reason why the starting point of this

novel is Sarajevo, it could have been anywhere in this

globalised world, every story starts somewhere and we all

are complicit to a greater or lesser extent in the evils and

injustices of our society.

The warning for us is to be vigilant against elitism, crime

and corruption taking control of our nation and our world

where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

There is ancient mystery and secrecy involving extreme

violence and mild sexual references woven into the very

readable and exciting suspense, adventure story.

Although the book, The Lost Children of World is a fiction,

what it describes is actually happening in a street near

you tonight.

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Disclaimer …………………………………………………1 Introduction.....................................................................2 Table of Contents …………………………………………3 List of Characters …………………………………………4 1 Decent into Hell .................................................... 5 2 The Journey ............................................................8 3 Nico .......................................................................15 4 Maria …..................................................................22 5 Balkan Stronghold ............................................ 31 6 The Kitchen ...........................................................36 7 Karl ........................................................................45 8 The Country Estate................................................49 9 The Hotel ............................................................. 53 10 Freda …………………………………………..…..…57 11 Charlie ................................................................. 59 12 Herr Shoemaker .................................................. 72 13 Valda ………………………………………………..74 14 Team Building ..................................................... 77 15 The Boilers .......................................................... 84 16 Preparations ..........................................................95 17 The Gathering ................................................... 111 18 War Lords .................. .........................................133 19 Man Hunt ............................................................142 20 Dominance .........................................................150 21 Felix Hienmann ..................................................161 22 Prince Get’s into Trouble ......................................163 23 The Challenge ......................................................176 24 The Football Team …............................................181 25 The Cooking Competition ................................... 199 26 Reunion with Maria ...............................................216 27 Prince is Sold ...................................................... 239 28 Strategic Mistake ............................................... 266 29 Nataśa disapears ............................................... 275 30 Shoemaker Reports Back ....................................284 31 Football Play Offs ............................................... 292 32 The Second Gathering ...................................... 313 33 Preparing for the Journey .................................. 339 34 The Train Journey ............................................. 351 35 The New Hotel ................................................... 375 36 The Boat ........................................................... 387 37 International Football .................................. ......410 38 The Escape ....................................................... 430 Author’s comments ……………………………….….. 437

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List of Main Characters

Nico Sokota is the fourteen year old hero of the story, he is captured

by people traffickers and is the brother of Maria.

Maria Sokota is the thirteen year old heroine of the story she is

captured by people traffickers and is the sister of Nico.

Harold Szirtes is an extreme Serbian nationalist eccentric and head

of a gangster empire based in the Balkans.

Imri Szirtes is the fifteen year old son of Harold Szirtes the gangster

boss.

Freda is the Harold Szirtes’s Hotel housekeeper who befriends and

looks after Maria while she works at the hotel.

Herr Shoemaker is the personal assistant of Harold Szirtes.

Karl is the gang bosses cruel enforcer.

Felix is the gang bosses creepy intelligence officer.

Valda is the assistant cook at the House of Attila who becomes

Nico’s friend.

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Chapter One - Decent into Hell

It was the first, dark hours of the morning of New Year of

nineteen ninety two, when Nico and Maria Sokota,

brother and sister were dragged across the snow and

bundled roughly into the back of a lorry along with

thirteen other children by the ruthless solders.

The terrified children cringed as they heard the loud cries

and screams of terror issued by their parents and

neighbours in the burning barn.

Trapped by the cunning leader of the raiding squad who

had sprung the perfect and unexpected attack while the

residents of the little hamlet, who were still celebrating

with music and dance the first hours of January nineteen

ninety two, hoping optimistically for a better year to come.

The leader of this raiding squad was not carrying a gun

like his soldiers, but instead he carried a curious sword.

He had an obsessive belief in this sword and the

inscription on one side of its blade, which read.

SWORD OF ATTILA – RULER OF THE WORLD.

On the other side of its blade was a more curious

inscription.

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YOU WILL RULE FROM A TOWN SITTING UNDER A

CROWN BEYOND THE PILLARS OF HERCULES.

In the months leading up to the war, the Yugoslav

People’s Army forces in the region began to mobilise in

the hills surrounding the city. One small unit was led by

Harold Szirtes an extreme nationalist eccentric carrying a

sword instead of a gun. The mad but ruthless, Harold

Szirtes was one of the beneficiaries of the conflict.

The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital

city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the

Republike Srpska and the Yugoslav People’s Army

besieged Sarajevo the capital city of Bosnia and

Herzegovina from the fifth of April nineteen ninety two to

the twenty ninth of February nineteen ninety six .

After Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared

independence from Yugoslavia the Serbs encircled

Sarajevo with a siege force of eighteen thousand soldiers

stationed in the surrounding hills. From these strategically

important hills they assaulted the city with weapons that

included artillery, mortars, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, heavy

machine-guns, multiple rocket launchers, rocket-launched

aircraft bombs and sniper rifles.

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The Bosnian government defence forces inside the

besieged city were poorly equipped and unable to break

the siege. It is estimated that nearly ten thousand people

were killed or went missing in the city, including over

fifteen hundred children. An additional fifty six thousand

people were wounded, including nearly fifteen thousand

children. It could be described as one of the most brutal

sieges of modern times.