Somehow It Connects Me To The Past

H’s Ancestors Artifact

 I don't know if I was courageous during the war, but maybe I was courageous to decide to develop my knowledge and to study. That was a courageous decision. Because I watched the destruction and terrible things which were going on in Sarajevo, but I decided that it was time, I wanted to continue my life and not to agree to be a victim during the war. The other thing I want to tell you about courage is that I chose this photo of my great father. I think he was more courageous than me. During the Second World War in Banja Luka. He built the house, which I talked about before, and he was Mayor of Banja Luka. Yes. (He was the mayor) between two wars, the First World War and the Second.

And when the second world war started, Banja Luka was part of NDH, an independent Croatian state that collaborated with Nazis and had concentration camps for Jews and Serbs. And my grand grandfather in that period decided to refuse to be Mayor of Banja Luka, the city which was planned to be the capital of that state. And he signed a petition in which very important people in Banja Luka asked the government to stop to killing Jews and Serbs in Banja Luka. So I'm very proud of him. He was very courageous. A very, very courageous man. I don't know if I was courageous like that in my life.

One more story about her great-grandfather:

And then communism was not a very happy period for him because he had a factory and after the Second World War he wasn't able to capture his houses and factory and was very poor. It's a very, very interesting story.

And what happened was, he had given money for studying for one very poor boy (before the war), a Serbian boy in Banja Luka who became a lawyer. And when he was tried, the judge, who got his case, was that young man. And yes, he told him, “I saved your life and saved your house. But that's all I could do”

I didn't know him because he died before I was born. But his house, which I grew up in Banja Luka, that was (his house). 

My father was very influenced by his grandfather. And one sentence he told me to remember that his grandfather told him, "Learn my child, because knowledge is power."

 

-J


These Three Sounds Have To Be Around Me

On my father’s side we belong to a very famous and noble family in Bosnia. Our cousin was Bosnia’s biggest hero who led the insurgency against the Ottoman Empire in 1830. And that was the atmosphere I was brought up in. In my family, in general, there was always this emphasis on a love for humankind and unity. And you know, this is how I was brought up and the whole family as a consequence of that, I would never agree to live in a city where I don't hear the bells of the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and the Muslim call for prayer. These three sounds have to be around me. I was brought up like that and I insist on this unity of all these religions to live together and this is the only way I feel comfortable.

-M


This mirror belonged to my mother's mother, my grandmother. It's 300 years old. It reminds me of my grandmother. I don't even know this grandmother because she didn't live long enough. But for me, this mirror was my grandmother. And it reminds me of everything that's warm in a house. Everything that presents a continuation of a family is in this mirror.

-M

I have an artifact that motivates me to teach. And that's my little, you know these French hats, a beret. Some people say that's not really a Bosnian thing, but somehow when I put that Beret on I feel it motivates me to teach and you know, I like it and I have three or four. A lot of people in Srebrenica, particularly older people were wearing berets and you know, even people who have died in the genocide had these berets on and somehow it connects me to the past and I feel when I put a beret on I feel an obligation toward them and it motivates me to talk about them. So that could be my artifact.

-H


He Was Very Courageous. A Very, Very Courageous Man.

J’s Ancestors Artifact

M’s Ancestors Artifact