AHS-2018-04-26-B
Interviewer
Ademir Kodacevic
Date of Interview
Spring 4-26-2018
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
1900-01-02
Date of Birth
1999
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
None Given
Description
Born in St. Louis to a mother who is from the city of Sarajevo and father who comes from Croatia, Earliest memories are of being diagnosed with diabetes at a young age and spending and extended period of time in the hospital, Lived in a normal suburban setting in Affton, Cannot remember a time where family lived in an environment where they could not afford to buy a luxury item, Both parents fled the former Yugoslavia to Germany separately, Met in Germany and after arriving in the United States was born in St. Louis, Family lost a lot of cousins and aunts on mother side, Father did not really experience the war on the same level as mother, Mother rarely speaks about the war if at all, Mother attended the burial of family members who were located in a mass grave, Did not want husband or son to attended in order to shield them from the trauma, Began to notice differences between himself and two older siblings, Older siblings looked like mother but he himself looked nothing like them, Noticed that there last name was different, Discovered in time that mother was married to a first husband who died during the war and who was the father of his older brother and sister, Discovered that he was only half siblings with them, Mother and siblings have a dislike for Russia and Serbia but cannot say he shares the same hate, Has a understanding that those who committed the crimes of genocide such as Milosevic have been punished and that a whole group of people do not need to be hated for the crimes of a few, Heritage is something that he wants to retain, Parents try to instill the language in order to pass it on but finds the language difficult to learn and understand fully, Enjoys the food but only a small portion, Identifies primarily as Croatian due to his connection with the culture, Cannot say that he shares the same views and stances as Bosnians, Belives that what happened in Bosnia is a tragic event that has left the country muddled and has bred hate on all sides, The efforts to rewrite the history of the country are harmful to Bosnia and to the history of its people, Believes that the issues and problems that plague the county cannot be fixed until the multireligious people of the country begun to understand and learn to live together, Wants future generations to not fight over such things such as religions.
Keywords
Affton, Sarajevo, Croatia, Germany, Multi-Ethnic, Religion, Culture, Identify
Document Type
Oral History
Collection
Affton High School
Digital Format
MP4
Digital Publisher
Center for Bosnian Studies
City
St. Louis, MO
Copyright Note
These oral histories are made available by the Center for Bosnian Studies for research, educational, scholarly, and/or creative purposes only. All uses should adhere to the principle of fair use established under Section 107 of Title 17 the 1976 Copyright Act. More on fair use is available here: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/.
Rights Statement
