Title
FBU-2009-08-15
Date of Interview
8-15-2009
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
200:41
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
He lived in Prijedor and recalled everyone being united before the war and that no one paid any attention to ethnicity. In April 1992, he noticed that Chetnik military men were guarding city hall, banks, hospitals, and everywhere. They started putting up barricades throughout the city. To keep their jobs, they were forced to sign allegiance to Republika Srpska. 30MAY1992, the Serbs began burning all of the old city of Prijedor and then moved house by house burning them down. All the Muslims were ordered to put white flags outside their homes and leave them. Everyone was taken to a big hall in the center of town. The men were all taken to Omarska, and women and children were taken to Ternopolje. This three-hour interview offers exceptionally detailed accounts of his experience in both Omarska Camp and Manjaca Camp. In total, he spent three months in Omarska and six months in Manjaca. After they were released from Manjaca, they were taken and transferred to the Croatian Border. This prisoner transfer was broadcast on TV. His brother, who was in Zagreb, saw him on TV and came to get him. Luckily, all of his family had survived and been all living in Zagreb. From there, he went to live in Germany with his wife and kids until 1998. He had nothing to go back to in Bosnia, so they came to St. Louis. He worked a factory job sewing but was laid off during the recession. His neighbour got him a job housekeeping at Barnes Jewish Hospital. He has struggled to learn English, and this makes life difficult. His children are fluent. He went back to Bosnia in 2004 and reclaimed his lost property. He would like to go back to live in Bosnia, but there are no opportunities there.
Keywords
Prijedor, Omarska, Manjaca, Tomašica, Zagreb, Croatia, Germany, St. Louis [MO], United States, White House, Ethnic cleansing, Concentration camp, Torture, Beatings, Starvation, Working, Learning English
Pre-War Residence
Prijedor
Wartime Residence
Omarska, Manjaca
First Country of Residence
Croatia
First US Residence
St. Louis, MO
Document Type
Oral History
Collection
Fontbonne University
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
