FBU-2007-04-28

Date of Interview

4-28-2007

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

91:13

Date of Birth

1962

Gender

Male

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

Grew up in Prijedor where attending primary and secondary school, Completed a college degree in Mechanical engineering, Began working in Banja Luka at a chemical plant after college, Married in 1989 he lived with his family in Prijedor, Neighborhood consisted of Muslims and Christians and all of them knew each other from their younger days, There was a complete separation of religion and state in Yugoslavia, The state policy was the suppression of any historical instances of ethnic or religious conflict, Voted in the first free elections in Bosnia, Remembers a change in the county after Slovenia declared independence, After the elections there was a large buildup of paramilitary forces around the city of Prijedor, May 30th paramilitary forces began attack on the city, Surrendered to the paramilitary by flying a white cloth from the roof of his home, surrounded by Serbian soldiers and separated from wife and family, Women and children told they could go home while men were put on buses and taken to Omarska now listed as a known concentration camp, some were as old as 75 and disabled while others were as young as 14, The camp held about 5,000 to 6,000 people who came from the educated class of the city such as business owners and doctors, Camp included Muslims and Catholics along with 2 orthodox Christian priests who did not conform to the politics of the Serbian state, At the camp the people they were tortured mentally and physically, people would be taken from the camp and beaten then returned, they would be taken again and killed, the camp also housed 34 women who were held there as workers for the cafeteria, some of these women were also tortured while others were raped and or killed, Witnessed a bus with the name Šešelj turn up at the camp one night, 50 people were called out by name to be exchanged as part of a prisoner deal, this exchange never took placed and all 50 were killed on the road in between Prijedor and Bihac, Interrogated and beaten by people who he knew to get him to confess to crimes he did not commit, survived the camp at Omarska and was eventually bused to Trnopolije camp, witnessed Serbian soldiers removing barbed wire and signs from camp before the arrival of international press such as CNN, After being released traveled with his wife who had given birth by this point in late 1992 to Croatia and eventually to Rome where he applied for asylum in the United States, Granted status and moved to the United States after the approval of refugee status

Keywords

Prijedor, Omarska, Trnopolje, Vojislav Šešelj, Ethnic cleansing, Concentration camp, Parent during the war

Pre-War Residence

Prijedor

Wartime Residence

Prijedor

First Country of Residence

Italy

Document Type

Oral History

Collection

Fontbonne University

Digital Format

MP3, MP4

Digital Publisher

Center for Bosnian Studies

City

St. Louis, MO

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