AHS-2016-05-11

Authors

Bosnia Memory Project, Fontbonne University

Interviewer

DaVontae Burse

Date of Interview

Winter 5-11-2016

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

1900-01-01

Date of Birth

1997

Gender

Male

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

Born in Seattle to Bosnian refugee from the town Foča an area close to Sarajevo, Family spent time in the area around Sarajevo during the war, Left Bosnia and traveled to Turkey where they stayed for about a year eventually coming to the United States,0 Family life was a struggle at the beginning as parents did not know the language, Sees the wars impact as it totally changed where he grew up and how he grew up, Feels that if the war did not happen in 1992 eventually it would have to as there is tension in Bosnia even today, Growing up he spoke only Bosnian and only began to learn English when started school, A back and forth of learning English every school year and forgetting Bosnian then when summer would come around his Bosnian would come back and would struggle with English, Remembers living in apartments with many other Bosnians where he would spend his days playing outside, Almost all his friends are Bosnian but identifies as Bosnian American as he was born in the United States, Sees having three Presidents in Bosnia as a problem as it is hard to do anything when you have three people trying to push their own separate ways, Experienced the negative stereotypes faced by Bosnians such as the stereotype that the government pays for everything they have but also sees some as funny such as the one that all Bosnians drive a semitruck, Hopes that future generations do not forget their heritage and culture, Wants what happened in Bosnia to be accepted by the world as a genocide and nothing less than that

Keywords

Foča, Seattle, St. Louis, Stereotypes, Genocide, New Generation

First Country of Residence

United States

First US Residence

Seattle, WA

Document Type

Oral History

Collection

Affton High School

Digital Format

MP4

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/.