AHS-2018-05-09-B

Interviewer

Jasko Mustafic

Date of Interview

Spring 5-9-2018

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

1900-01-01

Date of Birth

1973

Gender

Female

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

Born in a village in eastern Bosnia on the border with Serbia, Family consisted of parents and brother who all lived together, Village including both sets of grandparents along with many cousins, Village had other religions and best friend was Serbian, Religion was not an issue in Yugoslavia and family did not actively practice, War started when during a outing to a cafe with friends a grenade exploded outside, Serbian military came into village and loaded everyone on to trucks including her, Taken to concentration camp, Camp leader was best friend’s father who had disappeared a few months before the war started, At the camp witnessed mass killings of men, women and children and the mass rapes of women and young girls, One set of grandparents were burned in their home, Grandfather on other side was beaten and later died, Afterwards had to hide in a forest along and survive, Made it to Srebrenica safe area where shelling was constant, There was no food, water or electricity, While looking for food from UN food drop met future husband, Married and in Srebrenica gave birth to daughter, Survived and left the area in a truck to Tuzla witnessing more killing and rapes along the way, After the end of the war family moved to St. Louis, Describes the first days and months as horrible, Was called cracker and the apartment they lived in had lots of crime including murders, Felt as if she was still in a war zone, Began to work along with husband and managed to buy a house in South County, Family expanded and began to live a middle class life, Feels that the United States is great for people who are willing to work hard, Feels that the older she gets the more she thinks about the events of the war, Belives what happened to the Bosnian population in the former Yugoslavia was a long planned campaign by nationalist Serbian forces, Wants people and future generations of Bosnians to always know and remember that what happened in Bosnia was genocide and nothing else, Anything else is a lie.

Keywords

Srebrenica, St. Louis, War Rape, Genocide, Refugee, Starvation, Yugoslavia, Future

Pre-War Residence

Eastern Bosnia

Wartime Residence

Srebrenica

First Country of Residence

United States

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

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In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted.