AHS-2016-10-28
Interviewer
Kaia Johnson & Brendan Prosser
Date of Interview
Winter 10-28-2016
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
1900-01-02
Date of Birth
2000
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born in St. Louis to parents from the Krajina region of Bosnia, Most of his family were able to leave the county unharmed as his father recognized the danger early enough to get out, Before leaving left a lot of things behind such as a tractor and other valuables to best friend who is an ethnic Serb, After the war attempted to reclaim items but was threaten with gun and forced to leave once again, Parents met in Germany as refugees and eventually got married and moved to St. Louis where they had a family, Earliest memoires in life was going to school in Affton without knowing English since Bosnian was dominant in his home, Father works as a semitruck driver while mother is a stay at home mom, Identifies as Bosnian and visits Bosnia every few years, When going to Bosnia notices differences in the sense that pop culture and technology are always behind compared to the United States, Growing up the role of Islam and the family was a very important thing, Attended religious school three times a week until the age of 13, Family follows many Bosnian traditions such as having large family gatherings and drinking coffee at least three times a day, Experienced some stereotypes from others but most are false while some are possible true, Growing up in a Bosnia family he had a different way of thinking to his peers but never felt left out or left behind, Families that are Bosnian are very male dominant and that effects almost everything in the culture, Soccer is an important thing to Bosnian as it is more than a hobby , Soccer is an escape from the political and economic depression that Bosnia finds itself in , Feels that the genocide in Bosnia happened due to politics, Wants future Bosnian to remember who they are and to teach their children the language and culture, In addition wants other people to know more about Bosnia and what occurred during the conflict so that it cannot occur again
Keywords
Stereotypes, Affton, Family Dynamics, Politics of Bosnia, Brcko
First Country of Residence
United States
First US Residence
St. Louis, MO
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
