AHS-2017-10-21

Interviewer

Matthew Dohle

Date of Interview

Summer 10-21-2017

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

1900-01-01

Date of Birth

1999

Gender

Female

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

St. Louis native who was born to a Bosnian Muslim father from Sarajevo and a Bosnian Muslim mother from Mostar, Earliest memories are visiting Bosnia as a small child and going shopping with grandparents, Father served as a police officer and in the war was in the Bosnian Army, Noticed changes in Bosnia from her early memories where the cities were destroyed and buildings had bullet holes to now rebuilding happening and cities having new building and new skylines, Mother was kicked out of her apartment during the war and with brother came to the United States as a refugee during the first wave of Bosnians coming to St. Louis, Father remained in the country until the end of the war, Father original lived in Cleveland but moved to St. Louis as he did not have any family in the United States and St. Louis was a place that had other Bosnians he could communicate with, Mother and uncle arrived in St. Louis without knowing the langue and struggled to adjust, Worked many jobs while neighbors would help them with furniture, Eventually parents married and mother graduated college to become and auditor, Uncle graduated from Wash U and is employed at a fulfilling job, Father learned the language and is employed at a steady job but still struggles with the memories of the war, One story he did share was how in Sarajevo UNPROFOR soldiers were giving chocolate to a group of children, Serbian shells targeted the area and killed the children, Families of those children killed are always scared while those who survived are scared as well, Values the opportunities of the United States and respects what her mother, uncle and father had to go through to have a decent life, Wants future generations to remember how hard working Bosnian refugees are and how after coming to the United States with nothing they managed to accomplish so many great and meaningful things, Wants future generations to remember that war is always avoidable and to never persecute people due to their religion, Hopes that what happened in Bosnia never happens again

Keywords

St. Louis, Mostar, Sarajevo, UNPROFOR, Snipers, New Generation

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

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Rights Statement

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted.