Hadis Medenčević

* 1968

  • "Let me point out that Bosnia was in some kind of a vague state at that time, neither war nor peace. There was confusion, some things worked, some didn't. It was in early April 1992. Cyrus Vance, the American peace negotiator, was coming to Sarajevo and it was an opportunity for us. The plane that was about to land was a godsend for us; we thought it was bringing a messiah who would put it all together with a snap of his fingers, straighten it out and move on. The fact that he was coming meant that the soldiers withdrew, there was no more shooting, and that was a chance for us to leave. The plan was to take a train together in the same direction - my girlfriend would get off at Doboj and I was to continue on to Derventa. I thought I would wash my clothes at home and return to Sarajevo with bags full of food. When the diplomat arrived, we managed to get to the station where just a few trains worked at that time. However, we were lucky in that the train that was supposed to take us north was running. And so we left on that train. It was the last train to leave Sarajevo for the next four years. That same day, schooling was interrupted and there was no way to return to Sarajevo. In the meantime I found out that there was fighting in Derventa; I didn't know, my parents didn't even want to tell me. I couldn't go further or back to Sarajevo, and so I stayed in Doboj with my girlfriend and her parents."

  • "When the Bosnian Serb army conquered the town, a curfew was imposed. We could only go out between 8 and 11 a.m., after that the city was deserted, except for the army. One day I went out at that time, looking for some information, something that would just give me some hope. I remember there was a group of soldiers standing there, they had red berets on their heads, and it turned out to be some kind of special commando. I happened to be standing there when their commander came in. He said, 'You have 10 minutes to clear the whole town, to get people off the streets'. They started shooting. I'm not saying they were shooting at people, but some fell down. I don't know if they were hit or if they just tripped, but it was terrible. Fortunately, I ran away quickly and hid behind a building. God knows what would have happened if I had stayed there."

  • "During the war, something called evacuation developed. The Croatian army took control of the territory with a Serb population. They were fleeing the same terrible regime and actions to save their lives, and the only place they could flee to was Bosnia. Or rather, they could go to the parts that were controlled by the Bosnian Serb army. The Croats, on the other hand, could go from Bosnia to Croatia. To be clear, it wasn't that you bought a train ticket or a bus ticket, not a fly could escape from there. It had to be organised, and worst of all, it was under the auspices of the International Red Cross, because it was downright human trafficking. Getting on that list always meant a fat bribe to local dignitaries, officers and even those in the civilian leadership. After six months we managed to get on the dream list, on the bus that was to take us to the Croatian border. My girlfriend's mother never wanted to talk about it, but it must have cost a lot of gold; nobody had any money. On the border with Croatia - and I should point out we're talking a war zone, everything was smashed, bombed - we were on a bridge and people were being exchanged. We were standing on the Bosnian side, and then we heard officers, there was a civilian there, arguing. We heard one of them say, 'How come? We brought you a busload of civilians and you only brought us 10-15 women and old men and three coffins!? We're going to turn right around and go back!' It was terrible for us, not to mention it was 40 degrees outside, it was like a sauna on that bus. I was soaked to the skin. Then somehow they let us go. As we walked towards each other afterwards, I had to ask myself: what was the value of life, what was my value that day? Two grandmothers and one corpse, or two grandfathers and one grandmother? How much did they collect for me?"

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    Praha, 18.01.2024

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What was I worth that day?

Hadis Medenčević, 18 January 2024
Hadis Medenčević, 18 January 2024
zdroj: Post Bellum

Hadis Medenčević was born in Derventa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was then part of Yugoslavia, on 16 May 1968. His father Ismet was a turner by profession, and his mother Alija was an ethnic Turk from Macedonia and worked as an accountant. Hadis and his older brother Suleiman were brought up in the Muslim faith. Hadis Medenčević graduated from a high school of electrical engineering and continued his studies at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Sarajevo in 1988. He did not finish college because his country was drawn into the maelstrom of war during the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992. In 1992 he managed to leave for Czechoslovakia and settle in Prague. Hadis Medenčević has held various jobs and is now a computer scientist and business consultant. He is married and has two sons. He is an active member of the Prague-based Lastavica association which fosters the cultural traditions of the South Slavic nations and deepens reciprocity with the Czech Republic. He described his life in his novel „Blood, Honey and Hops“, which was published in Czech in 2021.