Saturday, October 28, 2006

Bosnians in St. Louis

St. Louis has become home to the largest concentration of Bosniaks in the United States (and I believe North America). As a result, St. Louis often features many Bosnian cultural & art events, as well as forums and events on issues relating to the war, Bosnia and immigration.

Most of the immigrants are refugees & survivors from the Srebrenica area.
In 2005, on the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, the St. Louis Post-Disptatch ran a series of many (albeit very brief) articles on Srebrenica and the survivors living in St. Louis. Articles

After The Fall is a photojournalist book that chronicles the past and present lives of Bosniak immigrants to St. Louis.

And the Bosnian Community Calendar contains a list of cultural events and forums relating to Bosnia and other Balkan countries.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good post!

Kirk Johnson said...

After the Fall is an excellent book.

Great stuff as always Shaina.

Shaina said...

Thanks to both of you!

I've never read "After The Fall" but it looks really interesting.
I've never been able to find a copy in any library that I've visited though

Anonymous said...

well here's the magic words 'inter library loan'
It means the library borrows the book for you. then you borrow it and read it.
I did that for a wierd and nerdy research paper on bagpipes
I later met a man who had more than 2/3rds of the bagpipes in one book I borrowe that way....
don't ask....

J. said...

Thanks for the book rec. Jus fyi, I thought "Evil Doesn't Live Here: Posters from the Bosnian War" was also visually interesting.

Bg anon said...

Interesting, I didnt know about the Bosniak community in St Louis - but I do now!

Anonymous said...

I have the book "After the Fall" and it has some interviews with Srebrenica men who were soldiers. One states they were ordered to leave their "strong defenses all around" Srebrenica by their brigade commander and the UN. There was no fighting or attacks on them at the time, but they gathered in a large group and left in shifts during the night. They didn't suffer any attacks until they crossed Serb lines. Also, the UN and their commanders had already told the women to go to Potocari - starting the week before Srebrenica fell.

This shows the great separation of men from the women was already done by the acting Muslim command (Naser Oric and several other leaders had left Srebrenica for Tuzla back in late April) and the UN before the Serbs arrived.

I am excerpting the part where the former Srebrenica soldier talks about being ordered away from the defense positions.

After the Fall: Srebrenica Survivors in St. Louis

P. 120 “Srebrenica Survivors in St. Louis: After the Fall” text and interviews by Patrick McCarthy:

Srebrenica’s fall was very sudden. We were in our village when the attack began. There were strong points, strong defenses all around. My brother was with me. My mother, wife, and child were together and they went to Potocari.

Around 7:30 in the evening, we got the news that women and children should go in one direction and that men should go in another direction because of the possibility of attack.

The order came from the brigade commander in Srebrenica and the people followed that direction.

It was really hard. My wife took our child and left. I stayed behind at our house and waited for others who were leaving, so that we could go together.

About 11:15 p.m., the men started to get together and we went to a nearby village where the men were also gathering. I was with my family, friends, and neighbors. At one point, there were, I think, something like eighteen thousand men together in that one place.

They told us it would be difficult to walk from the place where we had gathered, to walk to Tuzla, because it was hard to organize eighteen thousand people into one row so that they would go one after another.

People started leaving about 1:00 a.m. It wasn’t our time to go until about 6:00 a.m. Those ahead of us were moving for five hours and we still didn’t leave until 6:00 a.m. – my brother and the others I was with.

We crossed the Serb line and it immediately became more difficult because we were in their territory. There was one huge group of people walking in front of us, marking the way to go. Of course, after eighteen thousand people go, there is a mark of the way, there was a trail of the way out.



I arrived in Tuzla on the seventh day.

Anonymous said...

This is the worst thing I have ever heard in my life! Serbs suck!!

Anonymous said...

Did you know that over 80 percent of all Bosnian Muslims don't practice Islam according to the practice of the Prhophet Muhammad s.a.v.s? Bosnian Islam is leaned towards tradition rather then the true sunnah of the Phrophet s.a.v.s.

Bosnian Muslims need to get more educated about Islam, including me. Admin posted: http://thejourney2islam-team.blogspot.com/

Check it out.

theblackswans said...

I am working on a book about the various Bosnian Army units during the war. I have a few questions i would like to ask them.

I am also looking for Bosnian army flags, insignia and badges either to purchase or photos.

I am also looking to get additional information on these units.

Thank you!

heygfhey081 said...

Kool

Anonymous said...

I am curious to find out what blog platform you're working with? I'm experiencing some small security issues with my
latest site and I would like to find something more safeguarded.
Do you have any solutions?

Visit my weblog :: romance

Anonymous said...

I'm relieved that I've been able to diѕcoveг blogger.
com: it has the mοst informаtion necessary fοr myѕelf.
You've produced a very good resource and it's clear you have a сomprehensive understanding of the
issuе. Thankѕ to your wealth of information, I've learned a great deal more about the subject and will be coming back for more.

Feel free to visit my web page: http://www.weeblackdug.co.uk

Mrs.Irene Query said...

MRS. IRENE QUERY FINANCE IS THE BEST PLACE TO GET A LOAN {mrsirenequery@gmail.com}

God bless you Mum, I will not stop telling the world about your kindness in my life, I am a single mum with kids to look after. My name is Mrs.Rachel Alex, and I am from Singapore . A couple of weeks ago My friend visited me and along our discussion she told me about MRS.IRENE QUERY FINANCE, that they can help me out of my financial situation, I never believed cause I have spend so much money on different loan lenders who did nothing other than running away with my money. I have been in a financial mess for the pass 7 months now,She advised I give it a try so I mailed her and explain all about my financial situation to her, she therefore took me through the loan process and gave me a loan of $180,000.00 at a very low interest rate of 3% and today I am a proud business owner and can now take good care of my kids, If you must contact any firm to get any amount of loan you need with a low interest rate of 3% and better repayment schedule, please contact MRS.IRENE QUERY FINANCE via email{mrsirenequery@gmail.com}