AHS-2018-05-03
Interviewer
Vincent Marsh
Date of Interview
Spring 5-3-2018
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
1900-01-02
Date of Birth
1999
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born in small town in proximity to Frankfurt, Germany, Parents are from Bosnia and both lived in border regions mother with Croatia and father with Serbia, After living in Germany for three years forced to leave and move back to Bosnia with father, While living in Bosnia for those first years mother still lived in Germany in an attempt to remain financially viable as a family, After increasing difficult to keep the family unit strong mother also moved to Bosnia, Lived in Bosnia for 10 years in the city of Tešanj, Earliest memories are of spending time with father and of father traveling to Serbia but not being allowed to follow due to Croatian passport, Enjoyed living in Bosnian neighborhood that would have children playing outside until the last evening call to prayer for the Islamic faith, Identifies as Muslim and would use this prayer along with other children of the neighborhood to know when to come home, Explains the Bosnian education system as one with more challenges and one that focuses on many different subjects, Requirement to learn Cyrillic style of writing in order to continue education, Cannot remember ever lacking in terms of food or daily life requirements in Bosnia, Father left for the United States and left rest of family behind in Bosnia to wait for papers, Remembers after father left that life became harder and that the other children began to pick on him more, Waited for papers for four years until 2011 afterwhich family joined father in the United States, Life in the United States was challenging as the language was unknown and people spoke too fast, Assigned to ELL classes and slowly began to learn English, Enjoys being able to driver earlier than normal in Bosnia, Feels that life in the United States has improved dramatically since his first arrival, At first life was difficult due to the unknown culture, unknown way of life and unknown language, Living in Bosnia cannot remember a direct conflict that he experienced with others due to ethnicities but remembers that there was a lot of tension in the country due to the political situation, Most excited to come to the United States to see father again, Misses being able to go to the town square in Tešanj and enjoy sweets with neighborhood, Identifies as Bosnian if asked by a friend but in an effort to avoid conflict would identify as Yugoslavian to anyone who asks with ill intent, Sees the conflict in the former Yugoslavia as a horrible thing that did not need to happen and that everything including the genocide and the whole war were not needed, Hopes that in 70 years the former Yugoslavia will be at peace and that everyone will understand each other and understand that the conflict was unnecessary and preventable
Keywords
Germany, Croatia, Tešanj, Bosnian Education, Bosnian Music, Ethnic Relations, New Generation
First Country of Residence
Germany
First US Residence
St. Louis, MO
Document Type
Oral History
Collection
Affton High School
Digital Format
MP3
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
