Title
AHS-2016-05-04
Interviewer
Allison Dierkes
Date of Interview
Fall 5-4-2016
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
1900-01-02
Date of Birth
1998
Gender
Female
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born in St. Louis to Bosnian parents from the Velika Kludusa region in Bosnia, Father during the war was a soldier who experienced many traumatic events that he cannot share with family, Mother was injured while running away from gunfire in the city, Family on fathers side of the family were divided due to the politics in play that left one side of the family supporting the government in Sarajevo and the other supporting the government in Velika Kludusa, Growing up in St. Louis she took ELL classes and experienced some of the stereotypes that are expressed against the Bosnian community, Returned to visit Bosnia in 2006 and saw how life was over there with the country being devasted economical, 2013 Family decided to move back to Bosnia and live there permanently, Stayed in Bosnia for almost 2 years and attended high school there, Realized that she did not know Bosnian as well as she thought, Had to learn how to write and read Bosnian along with German, Latin and English from the British perspective as part of a graduation requirement, Describes school in Bosnia as difficult with 16 subjects that rotate every other day, High School is set up more as trade school that focus on one single career path and that was difficult to adjust to, After living there and seeing there were no opportunities for employment and a future that was brighter moved back to St. Louis for college, Living in the United States identifies as Bosnian American, Sees the war as something that happened due to the political goals of a few men and that led to nothing positive, Wants future generations to be more accepting of others and before coming to conflict first make an effort to learn the history of others
Keywords
Velika Kladuša, Bihac Pocket, St. Louis, New Generation, Identity
First Country of Residence
United States
First US Residence
St. Louis, MO
Document Type
Oral History
Collection
Affton High School
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
