FBU-2013-09-13-A

Date of Interview

9-13-2013

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

144:27

Date of Birth

1979

Gender

Female

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

Born to a family of Muslims in Prijepolje in Serbia, Family moved to Sarajevo when she was six months old since father was denied work due to religious background, Moved to Sarajevo and began working in well paid position, Family lived in a wealthy newer part of Sarajevo called Dobrinja, Remembers life before the war as easy going, peaceful and happy, Family had friends that were all ethnic backgrounds and religions and considered a modern Yugoslavian family, Grandmother told her stories of World War II and things that had happened, Would refuse to sit with certain families of Serbians when they came to visit the family, Cousin was a pilot for the JNA who was shot over Slovenia, According to family and friends in the military it was stunt by government to blame Slovenia for starting war, Grandmother passed away after hearing the news, Remembers seeing large buildup of tanks on hill visible from her apartment window, After conflict started would hide in basement with other children who lived in the building, Cousin who was traveling to Montenegro could not get out as bus travel and airlines were shut down, Friends of cousin killed in Slovenia who were in the military arranged for transportation out of Sarajevo for his mother and children including her mother and two sisters, Taken via cargo plane to Belgrade and then traveled to family home in Prijepolje, House was in the country side and surrounded by families that were against Muslims who would make negative comments and play music that showcased killing Muslims and the idea of a Greater Serbia, At school teachers would discriminate based on background and would award grads of C and D even with perfect scores on all tests, They would send her to compete and represent the school in regional competitions while awarding her grades that were less then what she deserved, After older sister were accepted to study in Turkey and left she with her mother left the city out of fear and moved to Podgorica, Experienced the same type of discriminated here the worst being in school where the principal would request to see her, Would tell her such things as her father would die soon, Told her to leave and go to Bosnia so she could die, Asked for a meeting with her mother, After which mother came out extremely angry after the principal told her that he would leave her alone if her mother slept with him, Stayed in the Podgorica until sister came back to Sarajevo and then in August 1994 father sent papers for mother and her to come to Sarajevo as well, Traveled via train to Belgrade and then Hungary afterwhich she traveled to the Croatian border via bus, At the border not allowed into the country with Serbian papers, Man hired by father came with temporary Bosnian papers and took them to Zagreb to wait for permanent papers from Bosnian embassy, Arrived in Bosnia via bus up till Mt.Igman afterwhich had to walk to a Bosnian controlled neighborhood, Traveled via a tunnel to the city of Sarajevo where father and sister were waiting, Survived in the city under siege by planting things in a small garden, Attend classes in the neighborhood that were voluntary and attendance was based on how safe you felt, Learned about all the safe places to walk and the unsafe places to be due to shelling and sniper fire, Father was shot attending a funeral but survived after a Serbian doctor helped him, Dayton accords signed and remembers buying ice cream with the other children of the neighborhood, Travelled to border of Federation and Replika Srpska, Recalls thinking how even how bad the children looked on the Bosnian side the children on the other side looked to be in an even worse state, Shared ice cream with the Serbian children on the other side, Wants future generations to remember that not all Serbians are the same even if sometimes she wishes they were as it would make things easier but they are not all the same

Keywords

Sarajevo, Prijepolje, Podgorica, Serbia, Siege, School

Pre-War Residence

Sarajevo

Wartime Residence

Sarajevo, Prijepolje, Podgorica

Document Type

Oral History

Collection

Fontbonne University

Digital Format

MP3, MP4

Digital Publisher

Center for Bosnian Studies

City

St. Louis, MO

Comments

Embargoed until 2043.

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