IN THE LATE 1980s, Yugoslavians Bosko Brckic and Admira Idmic were very much like any other teenagers in the Western world. They loved rock-and-roll music, dancing till dawn, fast cars, blue jeans, and each other. If anything might have set them apart from the majority of other young lovers, it was that they came from two different ethnic backgrounds. Bosko was a Serbian Orthodox boy and Admira was a Bosnian Muslim girl. But even that could not disrupt the passion reflected in their love letters.

"My dearest Admira," Bosko wrote when drafted into the Serb-dominated Yugoslav People's Army. "Every night when I go to bed I cannot sleep because I am thinking of you. My love, you are the only happiness I have."

Admira replied, "Just a little beat of time is left until we are together again and then absolutely nothing will separate us."

"My dearest Admira...