AHS-2017-12-17-B

Date of Interview

Fall 12-17-2017

Interview Location

St. Louis, MO

Length of Interview

1900-01-01

Date of Birth

1972

Gender

Female

Religion and/or Ethnicity

Muslim

Description

Born in Priboj, Serbia on the border with Bosnia and part of the Sandzak region, Remembers childhood as happy and easy going with friends going outside to play with dolls and visiting the cinema for shows, Four years before the outbreak of the war tensions started to arise with Serbian neighbors and friends beginning to avoid other groups and canceling plans such as parties or other events if they including any non-Serbians, Married at the outbreak of the war and left in order to be able to survive, Traveled to Germany where life began again, Had more children and life started to become normal again, After the Dayton Accords were signed Germany would not allow the family to stay, Forced to either move back to Bosnia or the United States, Moved to the United States which was a hard trip with layover being as long as 11 hours, After arriving in St. Louis stayed with a family friend in his home for a month and a half, Husband began to work and she found work at a grocery store since husband job was low paying, Moved out of friends house into a apartment in the city where they stayed for 8 months, These months were hard as they had to relearn everything in terms of life from the language to the cultural and to working, After 8 months moved to a house in the city where they lived for 3 years, Always her husband was looking for better employment and eventually was working a full time job and a party time job, Bought another house in the County as they heard that the schools there are better, Still live in this home with her son and daughters along with husband, Always misses the family she lost in the war and the family that was left behind in Bosnia, What happened in Bosnia was a sad tragedy a war that was political and that was caused by a few bad people, Who life has changed from what it was before, Establibed a trucking company that her and her husband work at and try to expand,Has a feeling that she was born three times in her life with the moves she faced and reestablishing her whole life, Attempts to keep in contact with family and travels to Bosnia as often as possible.

Keywords

Sandzak, St. Louis, Priboj, Germany, Cultural Differences

Pre-War Residence

Priboj, Serbia

Wartime Residence

Priboj, Germany

First Country of Residence

Germany (Berlin)

First US Residence

St. Louis, MO

Document Type

Oral History

Collection

Affton High School

Digital Format

MP3

Digital Publisher

Center for Bosnian Studies

City

St. Louis, MO

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In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted.