(7) Bosnia twenty years later a boy from central Bosnia tells his story

(Mt. Vlasic)

1) Do you remember where were you when you realized the war was imminent? I was in my hometown, though concept of war is very hard to comprehend for a 8-9 year old kid. I didn't differentiate a Serb from a Bosniak, a Bosniak from a Croat etc. we were all Yugoslavs. I thought that Yugoslav People’s Army going to defend us from some really bad guys.

2) Do you remember where were you when the war broke out? My hometown in central Bosnia

3) Where were you when the war came to your town? In school, it was a beautiful spring day.

4) The most memorable event of the war for you was? The Liberation of Mount Vlašić a thousand Disneyland tours couldn't replace it, though I was just a kid.  It was an awesome feeling of freedom and pride. Also, seeing my father coming from frontlines after 3 months of absence from home was great.

5) What made you hopeless during the war? Conflict with Croats, we were surrounded without food, medicines, ammo and weapons to defend ourselves. Lots of people were dying at that time, two fronts opened. It was true desperation.

6) What gave you hope during the war? The Bosnian Army.

7) Did you lose anyone close to you during the war? My mother was heavily wounded by mortar grenade and my grandfather was in Croat concentration camp in Heliodrom - Mostar. But fortunately no one close was killed.

8) Were you wounded during the war? Where were you wounded? No, I wasn't.

9) Your biggest loss during the war was? My best friend Ermin, refugee from Krajina was killed by a Croat sniper. He was 9 years old.

10) What was the hardest part about the war? Everything is hard in war.

11) Did you leave the country during the war? No, my father didn't want to leave though he had few chances.

12) 20 years later, what do you think of what happened? Serbs wanted to create a fascist state of so called Great Serbia on foundations made out of genocide and ethnic cleansing. Anyone says or thinks otherwise is a fool or četnik.

13) Are things better or worse than what you expected 20 years later? Everything is better than war. Things are not great right now in Bosnia, but it’s better than that hell.

14) Do you think war will return to BiH? It's not impossible.

15) What do you think the future of BiH will be? I think that Bosniaks will eventually vanish as a nation in some future conflicts, global or regional. When that happens, Bosnia will cease to exist too. Thousand years of Bosnian resistance to crusades, permanent territorial aspirations of its neighbors, internal enemies, Turks, Austrians, Germans it's just bit too much for this small country and its people.