Who am I?

Who am I?

Who am I? I guess this is one of the hardest questions you could ask yourself. Of course I could tell you that I am obsessed with fashion and make-up and that my hobbies are reading, baking and spending some time outdoors with my loved ones, but instead I am going to tell you a story my grandfather told me a couple of years ago when he was still alive. To understand the whole story, I have to tell you a little bit about my origins. I am Croatian, who originally comes from Bosnia (obviously the Croatian part of Bosnia) and was born in Austria. My parents were not refugees as you may think because of the Yugoslavian war from 1991 until 1995. Actually they came prior to the war because my dad was offered a job and that's how they started a new life here in Austria.

“Odžak“ is the name of the city I originally come from. It's located in northeast Bosnia, ten kilometers from the border with Croatia. It was first mentioned in 1593 during which time there was a huge fortress. Until the end of 1900 Odžak was part of the Ottoman Empire. After 1908 the city started developing as being part of the House of Hapsburg. Recovering from the First and the Second World War required a lot of time and energy, but the damages of the Yugoslavian war, often described as Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II, can still be seen in many parts of the municipality. But back to the actual story I'd like to tell you.

I remember playing in the yard on a hot summers day when my grandfather pulled out a sheet of paper and told me to have a look at it. While growing up, my grandfather was always keen about telling us stories related to historical events or to our origins and family. The headline of one special article instantly cached my eye. „Berlin pao, Odžak nije“, meaning that Berlin had capitulated and Hitler had already pulled the trigger, while Odžak was still fighting. The article was about the Second World War especially in connection to not only my home town but also my home village. When I saw my surname in a collocation (Nuića Bášča) mentioned in the article I absolutely had to read it.

While Berlin had already capitulated, the combatants “Yugoslav Partisans” were planning on invading Odžak. After fighting several days against “Croatian Armed F

orces” they managed to occupy it. Their goal was the occupation of all municipalities around Odžak, including “Posavska Mahala” (also known as “Vlaška Mala”), the village I come from. The ”Croatian Armed Forces” were trying their hardest to defend their territory, but after numerous battles and thousands of lost lives, they had to capitulate.

We have a huge plot of land in Bosnia, which is common down there, as agriculture has always been and still is the main occupation. Let me now explain why my surname was mentioned – Behind our stall there is a small cemetery located (Nuića Bášča), which cannot be seen when standing in front of our house. This cemetery has not always been there, but was more or less created during the Second World War. It is said that this last battle, which led to the final end of the Second World War, ended right at our property. All the dead bodies were at first just thrown at one side of where they were battling and should have later on been brought to the local cemetery. But the number of corpses was increasing each minute, so they decided to bury them right at our plot of land. The cemetery officially includes just about 30 tombs, but the number of people buried there is countless. I researched the internet and found out that the cemetery is nowadays a symbol for the arrival of the enemies, the “Yugoslavian Partisans.”

My father once planned to engrave the names on a huge marble slab of all those who fought and lost this last battle but were not buried properly. But as my grandfather and probably all older people who could have helped him with the names, have already died, he never got the chance to do so.

While searching for some appropriate pictures of my hometown, I came across a picture of my grandfather with a link to a YouTube video. He passed away in 2008, so seeing and hearing him speaking after such a long time brought tears to my eyes.