FBU-2012-04-17

Date of Interview

4-17-2012

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

76:07

Date of Birth

1956

Gender

Male

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

Born into a family of Bosnian Muslims in Prijedor, Parents divorced aged 5 afterwhich he lived with his grandparents, Attended and graduated High School in Prijedoor, Remembers life in Yugoslavia as great and without any conflict, Everyone had friendships with eveyrone else, Religion was not a thing for argument but was treated with mutual respect, Visited friends for Easter while they visted his home for Bajram(Eid), Attentend College in Belgrade for Business and Economics afterwhich he moved back to Prijedor, Worked for the Yugoslavian government as a director for commercial operations in a factory, Also ran a company with a Serbian partner that produced cheese, Remembers going on a business trip to Bihac before takeover of Prijedor and having to wait 5 days to come back to Prijedor due to Serbian army having blocked the road, Noticed Serbian Army soldiers and barricades on the roads when going work in April, On the way saw a Serbian police officer in a cafe that he knew called him over and was told that it was a long story and that he was sorry, At work was allowed to keep his job due to a Serbian knowing his father and protecting him, Faced discrimination at work for being a Muslim including having black Chetnik flags placed all over his desk, Decided to leave Prijedor but it was now close to impossible, Managed to get his father and mother out via a bus by paying a man name Fisher, Left the City and managed to get to Croatia while wife and son were still in Prijedor, Spent 4 months in Croaita while petitioning for refugee status in the United States, Status approved after which he moved with his wife and son to Vermont, Had difficulty learning English and it was hard to adjust working jobs on a production line after being a college educated worker in Yugoslavia, Managed to learn English and settle down thanks to sponsor and the United States government with ESL classes, Moved to St. Louis after son enrolled in the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Works as a addiction counselor for people being released from jail, Visited Bosnia in June 2007 as part of the Bosnia Memory Project but cannot see a future there until the denial of genocide by Serbians stop, Cannot see himself ever moving back to live in Bosnia full time

Keywords

Prijedor, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Vermont, United States, Parent during the war, Resettlement, Adapting to new life

Pre-War Residence

Prijedor

Wartime Residence

Prijedor

First Country of Residence

United States

First US Residence

Vermont

Document Type

Oral History

Collection

Fontbonne University

Digital Format

MP3, MP4

Digital Publisher

Center for Bosnian Studies

City

St. Louis, MO

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