AHS-2018-05-10-B
Interviewer
Elias Sintakas
Date of Interview
Spring 5-10-2018
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
1900-01-02
Date of Birth
200
Gender
Female
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born in Sarajevo to a father from the city and mother who was from a small village around the city, Lived in Bosnia till the age of five with parents and half-brother, Mothers first husband was died during the war after being surrounded by Serbian forces, First memories are of playing with the many stray animals in the city and enjoying friendships with other children, Mother moved along with children to Dallas, Employed at Walmart while attempting to bring father over, Could not travel to join the rest of the family in Dallas until 2 years later, Father arrived and found it hard to learn the language and adjust to life, worked minimum wage jobs and family struggled to pay bills and maintain a normal lifestyle, Moved to St. Louis after visiting the city where they had family, In St. Louis family counited to struggle until father became employed at a trucking company with a owner who helped him get established, Due to moving around in the city found it hard to establish a close knit friend group, Has friends that are Bosnian but also has friends that are American and all types of backgrounds, Family follows Islam but is not super religious but keeps most of the culture and traditions of Islam, Family shares few stories about the war but the few she knows is that her mother was injured during the war and due to the lack of medical care was left disabled, Grandfather was also held in a concentration camp by Serbians, Family cannot and do not speak about their experiences in the war, When visiting Bosnia finds it enjoyable but would not want to live there due to high levels of poverty, Grandmother grew ill and due to the low quality of medical care in Bosnia died in pain, Belives that better education and medical care is needed in the country, Identifies as Bosnian American as she shares traits and experiences from both nations, Cannot see herself ever permanently moving to Bosnia, Family cannot hold grudges against anyone for events in Bosnia but cannot understand why Serbian leaders still deny the genocide that occurred, Mother knows a lot about the foods of Bosnia and hopes to learn this all from her, Wants future generations to maintain the culture and traditions but to also become more accepting of other cultures
Keywords
Sarajevo, Dallas, St. Louis, Genocide, Marriage, Cuisine, Traditions & Culture
First Country of Residence
United States
First US Residence
Dallas, TX
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
