Vacation from Peace
Director Amin Hak-Hagir
Countries
Duration 55 min
Synopsis
1993: The 23-year old Austrian soldier Helmut R. goes to war as a volunteer in the Balkan war. As a mercenary soldier he joins together with two friends the Croatian Army. Out of love of adventure they take a break from Austria's neutrality and go on a vacation from peace. Searching contacts, receiving weapons, the first mission, the first dead man, reloading the weapon, the second dead man. Friends die. The vacation becomes daily routine. 15 years later Helmut R. speaks in the documentary „Vacation from Peace“ about his war experiences and his reasons for going to war as a mercenary soldier. „To all of us this was a game. We didn't really take this whole thing seriously.“ Helmut R.
1993: The 23-year old Austrian soldier Helmut R. goes to war as a volunteer in the Balkan war. As a mercenary soldier he joins together with two friends the Croatian Army. Out of love of adventure they take a break from Austria's neutrality and go on a vacation from peace. Searching contacts, receiving weapons, the first mission, the first dead man, reloading the weapon, the second dead man. Friends die. The vacation becomes daily routine. 15 years later Helmut R. speaks in the documentary „Vacation from Peace“ about his war experiences and his reasons for going to war as a mercenary soldier. „To all of us this was a game. We didn't really take this whole thing seriously.“ Helmut R.