War Childhood Museum Bosnian Collection

I Was a Refugee, Too

They were already shooting on the city… One night, dad came home and said, “Tomorrow you are going to the seaside!”

I packed my suitcase: bathing suit, sandals, and diary. We are going to the seaside! In the morning my brother, mom, aunt, and I joined the convoy that was leaving the city. We are going to the seaside…

Men with black masks stopped the convoy. They held us hostage for three days. Would I ever see the sea again?

Two months later, I arrived in the Netherlands, where I have remained.

All of my memories are in this suitcase.

Iva, b. 1981

Ballet 1994

When I enrolled in ballet, of course I wanted to stand on my tiptoes. I don’t know how I managed to wait until I was ten years old for my first pointe shoes! I got them from the theatre, just like all the other ballerinas in my class. Everyone got the “real” pink pointe shoes except for me. I got the white ones, and it made me sad. And jealous. Then my teacher explained to me what kind of pointe shoes they were. She told me that they were Sarajevo pointe shoes, produced in our city until the war started. The ballet students who practiced in them would become prima ballerinas of the Sarajevo National Theatre.

These pointe shoes would never be made again. I didn’t become a prima ballerina of the Sarajevo National Theatre. Life took me in a different direction, but my great love for ballet lived on. My Sarajevo pointe shoes remain in a special place.

Mela, b. 1984

Rock@War

At the start of the war, I met several up-and-coming musicians and like-minded people. Friendships developed quickly, and these friendships soon resulted in musical collaboration. We formed a band called Rocket, alluding to both the missiles and the rock music we played. Most of our gigs took place between ’93 and ’94, and many people came to see us play despite the wartime circumstances.

All of the band members grew as musicians during that period. Some of them continued to play music professionally after the war ended.

In those dark days, music was our priority, our “soul’s sustenance” — something that brought us closer together while also helping us to overcome the absurdity of war.

Damir, b. 1977

Father’s Razor

My father was a teacher, always clean-shaven and neatly dressed. As a child, I often watched him shaving and getting ready for work.

He didn’t survive the Srebrenica genocide. My mother and sister brought this razor in the bag they carried while leaving Srebrenica—I looked after it with care for many more years.

Whenever I tried to use the razor, it would bring back memories of my father and his boundless love for my mother, sister, and me. I know I would never be able to use it as skillfully as he did, so I am giving it to the Museum for safekeeping.

Emir, b. 1979