Theories "Just Peacemaking" much more than non-violence There is a compassionate rebel in everyone Healing the wounds Peacemakers Children can learn to be Peacemakers Local Peacemaker Makes a Difference The landmine issue Banning landmines: why the US won't sign the treaty Kids on the edge of a minefield |
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One Survivor's THIS article is based on a written account of Nedzad Halovic's escape from his country during the war between Bosnia-Herzegovina in the early 1990s. Nedzad Halilovic is currently a student in Moorhead, Minn., at Concordia College. He lived in Srebrenica, Bosnia, immediately before and at the beginning of the war in 1992. As Nedzad said, "On April 4, 1994, my life was changed forever." This was the beginning of the Bosnian war. On that day, neighbors came to his house and spoke with his father about setting up defenses for the little town. A call the next day alerted his parents of fighting 5 km from his grandmother's house. At this point, everyone began to evacuate -- women and children first. An evacuation and a journey
At first, the townspeople bought weapons so that they could protect the town. They stayed awake all night and by early morning most had evacuated -- including Nedzad's mother and sister. Nedzad looked older than his age and because of this he couldn't cross at the checkpoints to get to safety. If he was caught he would have been stopped to fight for his town. So while his mother and sister left by the main road, Nedzad and his father were forced to go through the forest to find safe territory. Nedzad's mother was sent to a town named Tuzla. Though neither of the men knew the way to Tuzla without the main roads, the family decided to meet there. They wandered through the forest with several other people, trying to escape the war. They carried very little food and some of the people started to hallucinate from hunger. The soldiers they saw were real, though. The soldiers were wearing green helmets. To Bosnians, green helmets represented Muslims. Nedzad's cousin leaned over to him and said, "They're on our side; they have green hats." As the people approached, they could hear the soldiers talking about Serbian soldiers. The people could tell from the comments that they were Bosnian. Nedzad's father greeted them in a traditional Muslim way and when they returned the greeting, it was positive they were Bosnian. They happened to be from a village near Tuzla and they directed the weary, starving wanderers to the town. A temporary peace The town was still not immune to the effects of war. While Nedzad was celebrating his best friend's birthday at a little coffee shop on March 25, 1995, a bomb suddenly went off in the street. When the debris settled, there were body parts all around the shop and three of the five people who had been celebrating were dead -- including Nedzad's best friend. The blast killed 82 people and injured 250, including Nedzad's sister. A new life
He flew from Croatia to North Dakota and was warmly greeted by his foster family, who are members of the Bosnian community in Fargo. Nedzad has been living in Fargo for three years, graduated from high school and is a sophomore at Concordia College studying Political Science. He hopes to get a law degree and fight for human rights in Bosnia. |
