FBU-2011-11-20-B

Date of Interview

11-20-2011

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

38:10

Date of Birth

1983

Gender

Male

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

Born in Yugoslavia in the Republic of Serbia in Ljubovija due to home town of Bratunac not having a maternity ward, Spent early days in Bratunac with family, Lived with both parents, sister and grandmother who passed away during the war, Noticed changes as earliest as 1992 as family was forced to flee family home and hide in villages around the area, Shelling of the area began and remained almost constant, After the area was surrounded by Serbian forces family fled to city of Srebrenica in 1993, Survived in the city by eating fruits and by trading food from a farm that his grandfather held, Life in the city was difficult, Describes Srebrenica as a prison, There was no way to leave or to enter the city, Food drops by planes happened but was not allowed to search for food as it was dangerous due to pallets dropping unexpectedly and killing those on the ground, After the fall of Srebrenica family fled to Potocari to seek protection of UN forces, Father fled via forest to try and make it to Tuzla, Mother, sister boarded bus to Tuzla and hid him under clothes and bags in order to make it to Tuzla since soldiers were taking all males off of trucks and buses some as young as 12 years old, Arrived in village outside Tuzla called Banovici where family spent 2 weeks living in a camp until camp was burned down, Father arrived around the same time and the family moved around the country looking for a place to live, Eventually moved to Croatia as refugees and applied for visas to come to the United States, Moved to St. Louis and lived in an apartment with a leaky roof in South City, Came to the country with nothing but clothes, Found furniture and other things needed to live from the trash, Life after this begun to change as adjustment to the United States begun, Begun to work at Schnucks, Bought a car and moved to a better apartment eventually a house in Affton, Still cannot comprehend why there was a war as Serbians and Bosnians were friends, Visited family home in 2010 which is now destroyed, Feels that a large part of his childhood is forgotten or blocked out by his mind due to the trauma of war

Keywords

Bratunac, Ljubovija, Srebrenica, Potočari, St. Louis [MO], United States, Srebrenica 'Safe Zone', Shelling, Refugee camp, Refugee resettlement, Mass graves, Growing up Bosnian American

Pre-War Residence

Bratunac

Wartime Residence

Srebrenica

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

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