2008 Woodie Awards
Bosnian refugee finds new life at Webster, America
By: Breanna Herschelman
Issue date: 5/3/07 Section: LifeStyle
She had no idea where she was going - just that she was fleeing to the United States to find refuge from her war-torn homeland.
Webster University alumna Nermina Mandzukic came to St. Louis from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993 when she was 10 years old. Her family escaped from a little town named Tesanj in the north central region of Bosnia early in the Balkan Crisis of 1992 through 1995.
The war started with the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, a coalition of Eastern European countries. Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader at the time, gained control of much of that region's power and began raiding surrounding countries, focusing on killing ethnic groups.
As Muslims, Mandzukic, now a computer services technician at Webster, and her family were prime targets for the Serbians. Mandzukic, her sister, both of her parents and grandmother lived in their basement in Tesanj for months when it was not safe to go outside because of bombings.
For a time, the family moved to live with neighboring families in the basement of a furniture store. Mandzukic said anywhere from 35 to 40 people lived together in one basement at the time, and the children only went above ground to use the bathroom. Toilets were located in apartments above the basement, but the water and electricity were shut off so they had to urinate in buckets or whatever they could find.
After living for months in these conditions, Mandzukic said her parents decided to leave the country.
"My sister and I were scared as kids with all the bombings," Mandzukic said. "So, our parents moved us to Croatia, and we stayed there for about a year until the war broke out there also. By then, my parents had applied to come to America."
When the family arrived in America, they came with other immigrants and refugees to New York City. They came not knowing where they would live. The family was assigned to St. Louis and has lived here since.
Webster University alumna Nermina Mandzukic came to St. Louis from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993 when she was 10 years old. Her family escaped from a little town named Tesanj in the north central region of Bosnia early in the Balkan Crisis of 1992 through 1995.
The war started with the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, a coalition of Eastern European countries. Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader at the time, gained control of much of that region's power and began raiding surrounding countries, focusing on killing ethnic groups.
As Muslims, Mandzukic, now a computer services technician at Webster, and her family were prime targets for the Serbians. Mandzukic, her sister, both of her parents and grandmother lived in their basement in Tesanj for months when it was not safe to go outside because of bombings.
For a time, the family moved to live with neighboring families in the basement of a furniture store. Mandzukic said anywhere from 35 to 40 people lived together in one basement at the time, and the children only went above ground to use the bathroom. Toilets were located in apartments above the basement, but the water and electricity were shut off so they had to urinate in buckets or whatever they could find.
After living for months in these conditions, Mandzukic said her parents decided to leave the country.
"My sister and I were scared as kids with all the bombings," Mandzukic said. "So, our parents moved us to Croatia, and we stayed there for about a year until the war broke out there also. By then, my parents had applied to come to America."
When the family arrived in America, they came with other immigrants and refugees to New York City. They came not knowing where they would live. The family was assigned to St. Louis and has lived here since.
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