Teen's life split into before and after the war in Bosnia

By Ariel Nash

Bosnia and Herzegovian — the country’s full name — was once one of six republics of the country of Yugoslavia. When the nation’s leader since World War II, Josip Broz Tito, died in 1980, an economic crisis and growing political and ethnic conflicts destabilized the country. The six republics of the federation each moved to declare independence over time. The ethnic conflict became the worst in countries like Bosnia, where the diversities of the populations were greatest. According to a 1991 census, the ethnic make-up of Yugoslavia was:
  • Serbs: 36 percent,
  • Croats: 20 percent,
  • Muslim Slavs: 10 percent,
  • Albanians: 9 percent,
  • Slovenes: 8 percent,
  • Macedonian Slavs: 6 percent,
  • Montenegrins: 2 percent,
  • Hungarians: 2 percent,
  • and the final 3 percent not identifying with a specific group.
So although the majority group in Yugoslavia was Serbian, in Bosnia the population was 43 percent Muslim, 31 percent Serbian and 17 percent Croatian. As the republics began to break away from Yugoslavia, the ones with the smallest populations of Serbs had the easiest time of it, like Slovenia, which was 90 percent Slovenian. The Serbian portion of Bosnia responded by forming their own republic, Republika Srpska. The Croats did the same, declaring its Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia a separate territory, which the Bosnian government did not recognize. Both groups tried to secure areas of the country for their own ethnic groups. When conflict finally erupted in Sarajevo on April 6, 1992, the last ethnic group loyal to the Bosnian government became a target — Bosnian Muslims. What followed was a three-year war that caught the world’s attention for its brutality and because many called the conflict an attempt at genocide of the Bosnian Muslim people. The number of victims who died in the conflict is currently estimated to be 97,207, but estimates predict it will go higher than 100,000. It is also estimated that 1.8 million people were displaced by the conflict, like Rijada’s family, who fled Bosnia and came to the United States.

Rijada Sulijic is an American girl who loves to hang out with her friends and work at Cub Foods, but the 18-year-old high school student is also a Bosnian girl who survived an ethnic war in Bosnia in which thousands of people like her were killed.

Rijada’s family was Muslim, the majority ethnic group of Bosnia, which became the target of the violence that erupted after the six republics of Yugoslavia began declaring independence, including Bosnia. See sidebar for a more detailed explanation of the conflict.

Rijada’s family was living in Zanjevo when it was attacked by Serbians, another ethnic group that was the majority group in Yugoslavia, but would become a minority group if Bosnia seceded from the country.

“My grandfather from my dad’s side was dying from unknown causes; our family did not have enough money to keep him in the hospital to get treated. When he died, my grandmother was with him in the house. The Serbs decided to invade our part of the town and started shooting and burning down houses. My grandmother was stuck inside the house with his body,” Rijada said. “My father and uncles managed to get my grandpa’s body and my grandma out. They took my grandpa’s body and buried him in the mountains. While they were gone, our house was burned down. I have no idea how they managed to bury my grandfather’s body when all of that was going on.”

Having nowhere to go, Rijada’s family went to live with Rijada’s maternal grandparents in Osat. They weren’t there for long before they were invaded again. “We had to go to buses [in Tuzla] being transported to safe zones. Only the women and children were allowed onto the buses. The men had to walk to the safe zone,” she said.

Rijada’s uncle, grandfather and father set off for the safe zone and walked mostly in forested areas to avoid danger. Rijada said Serbs pulled many tricks on the men on their way to the safe zone. Some would call through the trees saying that they were help and then capture or kill the men that went to them. Others would shoot through the trees in the forest in order to kill as many men as possible. Rijada’s uncle and grandfather got separated from her father during the journey, and were captured by the Serbs. They were killed.

“They were taken to a factory. The enemies threw bombs into the factories and killed almost everyone. I read somewhere that some managed to get away,” Rijada said. “After they were done throwing bombs into the factory, they took the remaining limbs of the victims and buried them in three separate places so that it would be hard for families to find and identify their loved ones. Honestly, who would be evil enough to do something like that?”

While the family worried about the safety of their loved ones, Rijada’s mother, siblings, grandma, and aunt didn’t have anywhere to go when they made it to the safe zone in Sarajevo.

“We found a vacant house and settled there. Since we couldn’t afford food, we grew some food and ate the animals that were in the yard of the vacant house abandoned house had to survive.”

Rijada’s father eventually made it back to his family. “I remember missing my father so much when he was gone. When he came back, he brought us chocolates. That was such a happy day for me,” Rijada said.

Even though Rijada’s parents loved Bosnia, they knew it was only a matter of time before they would have to leave. The conflict was still a big issue and they weren’t making enough money to make ends meet. “When we left I didn’t even know we were going to America for good. I thought it was only a vacation,” Rijada said.           

Rijada’s family settled in New Hope. Her parents have stable jobs in a thermal processing plant. Rijada works at Cub Foods. Even though Rijada lives the typical American life, she always remembers the war and how it changed her and her family. “It’s sad how we separate out lives into ‘before the war’ and ‘after the war’. The war will always be a part of our lives. It’s not something we can ever forget.”

She also remembers that she has things here that she would have never had in Bosnia. “I feel like living through the war has given me an appreciation that some people don’t have. Since I was poor for a good portion of my life, I don’t ask for much and I take what I can get,” she said.

Rijada feels that her story can empower people and show them how to overcome the pain of losing their family members to the hatred of others. “I’ve already started writing an autobiography of my life. I want to publish it and share my life so that people know how I managed to overcome everything that happened to me in Bosnia,” Rijada said.
 

Great story Ariel. Thanks

Submitted by Rijada (not verified) on 18 November 2008 - 3:13am.

Great story Ariel. Thanks for writing it. :)

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Sponsored by    University of St. Thomas