AHS-2017-00-00-B
Interviewer
Nadija Rizvanovic
Date of Interview
Winter 1-1-2017
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
1900-01-01
Date of Birth
2023
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born in the city of Sarajevo where he enjoyed his childhood playing with other children and spending time outside, Had mostly friends that were Bosnian Muslim but also Serbians and Croatians but did not know that until later as before the conflict this was not discussed, After a shell fell into his neighborhood killing three children including a close friend family deiced to leave the city, July of 1992 left the city via a path know to be safe to Mount Igman and could see the city behind him with the Bosnian Muslims areas being without electricity while the smaller village who were launching attacks into the city had light, Family stayed in the region of Herzegovina for a year and then moved to Germany, After Germany began to evict Bosnians moved to the United States in 1997, The United States was a completely different environment and it was hard to adjust to the life style and everything from the cars to the streets and how the city seemed empty at night was strange, Began to work in different types of factory jobs around the city until enrolling in school at STLCC and graduating with a degree in Accounting, Become a community organizer along with other members of the community and organized such events as the Srebrenica March in 2015, Helped raise money for schools in Bosnia and raise awareness for the genocide that occurred, As a Bosnian Americans shares everything in common with all other Americans only being different in the sense that he celebrates holidays differently then others, Hopes that Bosnians retain more of their traditions and identity as assimilation has taken down a lot of the restaurants and Bosnian business that used to dot St. Louis, Has a wish to go back to Bosnia and live there when older as he still belives that is his one and only true home where he has never left
Keywords
Sarajevo, Shelling, Mount Igman, St. Louis, Culture Shock, Assimilation, Community
Pre-War Residence
Sarajevo
Wartime Residence
Sarajevo
First Country of Residence
Germany
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
