FBU-2007-03-09
Interviewer
Ben Moore and Jack Luzkow
Date of Interview
3-9-2007
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
112:02
Date of Birth
1959
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born in Prijedor and finished medical school in Zagreb. He returned to Prijedor and was a pediatrician at a local school and for preschool children. He also did rotations at the local hospital. JNA called him up to fight in Croatia, but he refused and was sacked from his job. Not long after this, all non-Serbs were fired from their positions at work in April of 1992. Villages surrounding Prijedor were cleansed first. Women and children from these villages were sent to Prijedor City and housed with Catholic and Muslim families. He was a volunteer police officer and had a legal weapon. Muslims began to organize themselves. When Sebs came in with tanks, they all turned in their weapons. Kozarac was under siege in May for three days, but no one knew. It was hard to get information. He began working at a red cross clinic that received bus transports of women and children from Kozarac. They began shipping all men 16 and older to Omarska and Trnopolje. He was allowed to escape the transport because his wife was pregnant. They secured visas to Croatia and left on May 18, 1993, where they stayed in Bjelovar for two years. He worked construction under the table because no one could get work. On May 15, 21995, they came to St. Louis. His wife was also a physician in Yugoslavia. He worked two jobs while she did a residency in the USA. He now manages his wife's practice but does not practice medicine. They have two sons who know Bosnian pretty well and visit Bosnia often.
Keywords
Doctor, Omarska, Trnopolje, Pediatrician, Red Cross, Ethnic Cleansing
Pre-War Residence
Prijedor
Wartime Residence
Prijedor and Bjelovar
First Country of Residence
Croatia
First US Residence
St. Louis, MO
Document Type
Oral History
Collection
Fontbonne University
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
