AHS-2016-05-18
Interviewer
Dzenita Muminovic
Date of Interview
Winter 5-17-2016
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
1900-01-02
Date of Birth
1976
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born in village of Miholjevine in the outskirts of Srebrenica, Life before the conflict was peaceful and enjoyed being with a close group of friends from his village who were Bosnian Muslim, Came from a family that had all sons with him being one of four, After completing school wanted to attended military academy with friends but all were denied as the Serbian authorities said that there grandfathers had been Ustaše, Began to notice things were changing when talk of a Greater Serbia began, Milosevic started giving speeches about Serbian unity and not unity for everyone, Shortages of food began and family fun market was not allowed to resupply by Serbian authorities, Serbians began to request that everyone give up weapons but they had none to give, Village began to be shelled constantly and people began to die, People did not think the war would last long or be brutal but would be over in a night or two, Large amount of refugees from other parts of the country began to arrive to family run store with no food, Provided food to families until everything was gone, Serbian army attacked from Serbia using JNA whole arsenal of weapons including tanks, planes and artillery, Soldiers were Serbian along with Greek, Russian and Belarus, After the fall of Srebrenica was forced to try and escape via the forest with other men on a trek known as the "Put Smrti ", On the trek came under constant shelling and attack by military jets and motor strikes, Chemical were against the column of men, Creeks and any water sources on the road were poisoned, Men in the group began to hallucinate and do crazy things, Two brothers were killed on the way while one who was in a concentration camp called Batković managed to survive, Eventually applied to live in the United States and after a long journey came to St. Louis, Living in St. Louis was difficult as he did not know the language and had no job or money to survive, Life became easier after a while but also fast paced with only more and more work needing to be done, Believes that the whole conflict was a ruse to make politicians rich, Common people in Bosnia and Serbia and all the former Yugoslavia are now all worse off than before, Cannot hate anyone even Serbians but wants to educate his children so they can be successful and can make a difference in the world, Wants future generations to not look at people based of their race, creed or religion but judge them on their actions and character, Wants future generations to avoid war and if at all possible never have another one anywhere
Keywords
Srebrenica (Miholjevine), Milosevic, Chemical Attacks, Potocari, St. Louis, Batković
Pre-War Residence
Srebrenica (Miholjevine)
Wartime Residence
Srebrenica (Miholjevine)
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
