Title

FBU-2014-03-18

Interviewer

Deborah Mraz

Date of Interview

3-18-2014

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

63:59

Date of Birth

1965

Gender

Female

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

Born in Prijedor to Bosniak parents. She got sick shortly before her 5th birthday with an undisclosed illness, but left her wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. She states that she spent the majority of her childhood travelling all over the former Yugoslavia to different clinics for treatment. She felt that things started to change in the 1980’s and recalls being in Belgrade and having Serbs tell her not to go to Kosovo because the Albabnians were dangerous. She had difficulty because she is Muslim but her last name in Karadzic, associated with Radovan Karadzic. They fled to Croatia fairly early, at the end of 1992 and remained there until 1996. It was hard being a refugee in Croatia because they were also at war and they were checked almost daily by the police for papers. They then transferred to Northern Germany in 1996 and stayed there until 1997. Her sister stayed in Germany. She, her brother, and parents all moved to St; Louis through Catholic Charities. None of them spoke English but were helped by the community in St. Louis. She learned English and obstained a drivers liscense. IN 2001, she began working at the registrars office for ESL at the International Institute and has worked there 11 years. She assist refugees when signing up for English courses, mainly Arabic and Spanish speaking. She has never returned and has no interest in visiting Bosnia. She keeps in contact with family through Facebook.

Keywords

Istria, Schleswig-Holstein, International Institute, Wheelchair, Refugee status, Trauma, Special needs

Pre-War Residence

Prijedor

Wartime Residence

Croatia

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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