FBU-2006-11-07

Interviewer

Rachel Politte and Lauren Weissler

Date of Interview

10-30-2006

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

172.36

Date of Birth

1939

Gender

Female

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

She was born to Mulsim parents in Kozarac. States that life was tough following WWII; there was not enough food or clothing. She was involved with cultural and artistic youth associations that put on traditional art, theater, and dance. She got married, had two children, and was the head of an accounting department in a firm for 35 years. She was getting ready to retire at the start of the war. She noticed groups splitting along ethnic lines and getting news from different sources. Four Serbs beat up her son on the bus and then was forced to apologize to his attackers by the police. She left Kozarac two days before occupation and fled to Prijedor. Serbs blockaded Kozarac, and her husband and son were trapped inside. Her sister and sister in law were interned in Ternopolje, and her husband and son were alive in Omarska. She was staying with ten other women in a house when Prijedor was attacked. Serbs forced all males in Prijedor onto busses and were taken away. Women and children from Kozarac were taken to Puharska and held in a gym for five days before being taken to Ternopolje. Men were occasionally transferred from Omarska and were very malnourished. Her brother died in Omarska, and her brother-in-law died of starvation after being released. Serbs evacuated Ternoploje and loaded all 1,500 interned onto busses. At the last rest stop, all the men were separated and loaded onto separate busses. She found out later that all of these men were taken to Mount Vlasic and murdered. She was taken to a refugee camp in Travnik, where she could get a hold of her brother in Zagreb, who sent an affidavit of support. She then went to a refugee camp in Karlovac. Her son was still in Manjaca Camp. Her husband had made it to Germany via Switzerland. She was finally able to reunite with her son in Karlovac. She went to Germany to join her husband, and her son soon followed. In 1994, she learned that her other son was murdered in June of 1992 while trying to escape to Croatia, and his body has never been found. They were not allowed to work in Germany and had to update their status every few months. Following the Dayton Peace Agreement, they were told that they had to return to Bosnia. They were able to get a lawyer and appeal this decision which took a year. Still, at the advice of their lawyer, they applied to come to America and were granted refugee status in America. They came to St. Louis and took classes at the International Institute. They studied and received their American citizenship in 2004.

Keywords

Kozarac, Prijedor, Trnopolje, Puharska, Omarska, Mount Vlašić, Korićani Cliffs massacre, Manjača camp, Lubica, Travnik, Karlovac, Germany, Essen, United States, Ethnic cleansing, Concentration camp, Refugee camp

Pre-War Residence

Kozarac

Wartime Residence

Prijedor

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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