Title
AHS-2016-09-20
Interviewer
Isaiah Wilson & Zirhad Dzanic
Date of Interview
Winter 9-20-2016
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
1900-01-01
Date of Birth
1988
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born in the countryside in the area around the city of Srebrenica, First memory is of having to leave his home to go to the city with his family and his 11 day old sister, Family had to spend one night in the woods and sister was crying, Everyone worried about getting discovered and there was talk of leaving her to save everyone else, The day they left their home it was cold and snowing, Arrived in the city and stayed there until the Serbian take over with 40,000 other refugees, After the Serbian army took over the safe area everyone began to panic and run towards the UN base at Potocari, Stayed in front of the UN base for five days, During the night people were beaten and killed, Could hear the screaming of men being killed and of women being raped, 5th day buses arrived to take everyone to Bosnian territory, Attempted to board the bus with his grandfather who was 67 at the time, Serbian solider who was heavily armed told his grandfather that he needed to come with him, Grandfather said he could since he was the only person there to take care of the interviewee, At that time aunt showed up and take his hand while grandfather was taken away by Serbian soldiers, The last time he saw him until his body was discovered in 2009, Traveled with bus through Serbian barricades until arriving at Tuzla, Along the way harassed by Serbian solider at every checkpoint and at one point began to throw up out of fear, Stay in Tuzla for a while but then moved to Sarajevo where his family became refugees and were viewed as outsiders in their own country, Attending school with only one notebook that would be used until full then erased and reused, Received news that application to live in the United States was approved in 2001, Arrived to the United States to Chicago were life was different but was very optimistic and glad to be in the United States, Completed High School while playing soccer and working at Goodwill unloading trucks, Eventually moved to St. Louis and graduated college and gained more fulfilling employment, Wants future generations to know that there is so much life ahead of you, wants future generations to work hard and become educated
Keywords
Srebrenica Massacre, Chicago, Potocari, July 11th
Pre-War Residence
Srebrenica
Wartime Residence
Srebrenica
First Country of Residence
United States
First US Residence
Chicago, IL
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/.
Rights Statement
