FBU-2014-04-27
Date of Interview
4-27-2014
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
130:25
Date of Birth
1977
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born to Muslim parents and raised in the small village of Kumarice 10km outside of Velika Kladuša. He is the fifth of eight children and grew up without electricity or running water. He was 15 or 16 when the war started. He remembers the first time he saw a soldier with a gun and knew things were bad. Fikret Abdic, aka “Babo”, was the village leader and owner of Agrokomerc factory. There was a crucial regional meeting in which people were shot and killed. Abdic declared the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia and formed an army to defend the city. The zone was declared as traitors by the Bosnian Army. His father and brother joined to defend the town against the Bosnian Muslim Army. This was done because JNA was very close and threatened to annihilate the village if they did not cooperate with the Serbs. His family fled twice to Krajina, staying for times in refugee camps Turanj, Gošnice and Obonjan. The family was reunited after the war and live for a short time in Djakova before moving to St. Louis in 1997. The family lived in South City, and he learned English and the International Institute. He specifically sought out American friends to help assimilate. He started working and eventually bought his Semi-truck and started his own trucking business. He married an American and became a born again Baptist Christian.
Keywords
Velika Kladuša, Kumarica, Fikret Abdic, Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, Turanj, Gošnice, Obonjan, Agrokomerc, Djakova, United States, St. Louis [MO], South City, South County, Interrogation, Evacuation, Territorial identities, Family members in army, Religious identity, Christianity, Conversion, Assimilation, Started a business, Truck driver
Pre-War Residence
Kumarica
Wartime Residence
Kumarica
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
Copyright Note
These oral histories are made available by the Center for Bosnian Studies for research, educational, scholarly, and/or creative purposes only. All uses should adhere to the principle of fair use established under Section 107 of Title 17 the 1976 Copyright Act. More on fair use is available here: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/.
Rights Statement
