European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 03, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse The stars and stripes monday january 3,1994 the War eaves f hem no peace even Here byed Reavis staff writer Hanau Germany one year old Nedim Beslagic left Bosnia wrapped in the arms of his Mother Sajma sitting in the Back of an open truck. Jammed on the truck with them wer Nedim s father Sadik his daughters Leila and Meriba and his grandmother Mina. Now in Germany the family of six lives As War refugees in one room of a former . Army Post Hessen Homburg Cavern Sehic 45, the Man they Call pro Fessor because he taught arabic abroad was also crammed onto a truck in the same Convoy with his wife Edina his Mother in Law Fatima Dzanic 65 and a sister Sedina and her children Amir 12, and Belma 9. I was fortunate that when the first wave of chetnik armed serbian units came to our Village i was t Home but visiting m another Village Esad Sehic said. When the serbs searched the Village he was visiting Sehic said he hid in the attic for 10 Days and was Lucky they did t find " t any Muslim with a so called intellectual profession was shot upon sight he said. Carolyn Mccloskey a teacher at the Hanau Middle school is working with Thebes Agics Sevics and other refugees. She started a program Between Ameri can pupils and refugee children that hailed to some genuine friendships. The refugees consider Mccloskey a kind of guardian Angel for her efforts. The latest Issue of a monthly newspaper for bosnian refugees in Germany has a full Page article on the bosnian refugees also Means accepting their overwhelming hospitality. It Means having a Glass of fruit juice one of their delicacies such As Bosansky Tufa Hija a dish made of baked Apple with a chopped nut and Marzipan Core topped with Cream or Baklava and Coffee. I be Learned a lot from the refugees Mccloskey said. I Learned How people survive and Cope with extreme be seen the men from the concentration. Camps who shy at the sight of a pair of Scis sors. I be seen the raped women and the mental anguish they go through. On a much less drastic level imagine yourself being forced to live in one room in a Cavern with eight to 12 other persons As they do she said. The War leaves them no peace even Here. The Gate to the Cavern is Well guarded because serbs try to come to Start for refugees in the former Cavern which houses 520 adults and 150 children bosnian refugee Mina Beslagic holds her 1-year-old grandson Nedim is As Normal As people like Esad Sehic can make it. They organize courses in the bosnian language hold lectures on cultural affairs and conduct seminars for Young people on drugs and aids. They also have converted one room into a is an excitable Man. He wants to be sure americans understand what happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He spreads a map of the former Yugo Slavia out on a Coffee table and circles his chetnik returned Sehic said. First they came through the streets shoot ing people in groups of tens and fives loot ing the houses and setting them afire. Then they lined us up on the Bridge on the Edge of town men on one Side women and children on the other. They set two great bags at the end of the Bridge and told us put All your hard currency in one bag and All your jewelry and valuables in the other they said if they found anything of Hanau Middle school teacher Carolyn Mccloskey right discusses problems with Leila Beslagic left Leila s father Sadik and sister Meriba. Value on anyone they d be shot. Then they let us leave 10,000 from the area of 12 villages called Japan ska Doliria were Al Lowed to leave on chetnik vehicles. My Convoy had 380 people on it. They were sick and crying All the Way to chetnik transported the refugees to the slovenian Border where German humanitarian groups picked them up. Sehic said the official number of Refu gees from Bosnia in Western Europe is350,000, most of whom Are in Germany. Most other countries Don t want us Sehic said. Our future is Uncertain be cause this War has just begun. In our hearts we want to go Back to Bosnia homesick Ness is killing us but a More typical feeling was expressed by 17-year-old Leila Beslagic it s not so bad. But my friends Are not Here. It s not is photos by Dave Casey a bosnian Man prepares to Pray i room refugees converted into a mosque. A Amir Sehic a 12-Vcar-Oid staying in refugee housing at a former army Post in Hanau refugee Esad Sehic called professor because he taught arabic abroad explains Thea Mirenic a i Jar Oil Fuji us i it an Mclind Peltcs of the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Germany watches a videotape of the suffering in Nis Nome Ana. F
