About Sanija and Hatidža

I come from a deeply defiant and rebellious family. My mother, Sanija, laid on top of me in multiple situations when I was a baby in the Bosnian Genocide. My mom wanted to ensure that I would not get shot by snipers. My mom knew how to drive extremely fast. She made sudden swerves in her car during the war so that the passengers in the car would not be harmed by Serbian Chetnik snipers while they were fleeing for their safety. My mom was in a couple of situations where her car nearly flipped upside down. She was beyond fearless. She is heroic beyond measure.

My grandmother, Hatidža, was self-educated because her father didn't allow her to get a high school diploma or college education. It was a time when women were considered idiotic, worthless, and inferior. Since her father did not respect women, my grandmother adjusted accordingly and returned the favor. Hatidža had zero respect for her father and his demands, so she read books and completed the assignments, projects, exams, and all requirements of high school students and college students. Hatidža informally received a high school and college education.

When my grandfather, Džemail, was young, he was a Partisan in World War II. While he was out on patrol, he spotted the officer barracks of the Nazis. My grandfather defied the Nazis by entering the Nazi officer barracks, taking a piece of paper and a pen, and writing down "THE PARTISANS WERE HERE!" in ten foreign languages. Džemail was so bold. He walked out of there. He didn't give a damn. My grandfather was an orphan. He simply didn't care.

Hatidža learned how to handle weapons when she was a child. She was a fierce advocate of self-defense. When my grandmother was 5 years old, a little girl in her village was raped, tortured, mutilated, and murdered. The little girl was the same age as Hatidža. My great grandmother and great grandfather banned Hatidža from ever playing outside again. They feared her safety. Her childhood ended the day that little girl was killed. This formed rage and resentment in my grandmother as well as terror of having the same kind of destiny.

My grandmother wanted to have a career as a forensic examiner, police detective, military strategist, and military general. Hatidža knew how to make grenades, tranquilizers, and poison. Hatidža knew if someone was poisoned and she knew how to detect it. She knew how to detect date rape drugs. She knew how to forage for herbs, plants, and fruit in a forest. She read about jungles, tundras, and deserts in order to understand how to survive in every type of environment. She learned how to make snake antivenom. My grandmother knew how to make ammunition and bullets just in case she ran out of bullets. She rode on her horse with a shotgun when she was a teenager. It didn't matter what the weather was like. Ice, snow, rain, or hail. Whatever. She was on her horse.

My grandmother studied every famous military general in the history of humanity. She once told me, "If you can't outnumber your enemies, then outsmart and outstrategize them". She is the most defiant, headstrong, fierce, strategic, determined, bold, dignified, and honorable person I have ever known. I respect her more than myself.

During the Bosnian Genocide, my grandmother saw a group of little girls getting gathered to be raped. All of the girls were under the age of 10. My grandmother saw the Serbian Chetnik soldiers standing around the girls. Hatidža took her sniper and shot the soldiers in the head. There were 32 soldiers. My grandmother was a first-rate fighter.

My grandmother had a bullet graze the side of her head during the Bosnian Genocide. A Serbian Chetnik sniper was trying to kill her. My grandmother barely missed the bullet. Hatidža dropped down to the ground and grabbed her sniper. She shot the Serbian Chetnik sniper in the head and instantly killed him. She then shot 40 other members of his crew. She killed 41 men within the span of a few minutes. She was quick on the trigger. My grandmother was 62 years old at the time. She stood at 4 feet 6 inches. The men she killed were between the ages of 18 to 35. They were between 6 feet tall to six foot five. She was fearless, bold, and determined. Hatidža killed hundreds of Serbian Chetniks during the course of the Bosnian Genocide. She had no choice. It was either her life or their life.

As a child, Hatidža loved to ride horses. When she was a teenager, she took a shotgun while she was riding her horse and she would shoot at targets on a farm. Hatidža was told that she was only allowed to go to school until the 8th grade by her father. That made her angry. Sexism and discrimination were alive and well when she was growing up. She would sneak into libraries dressed up as a boy and read a minimum of one book per day. Hatidža usually read three books a day, every single day. Her brother believed in equality. He was always on her side. My grandmother was forced to get married when she was 15. She didn't want marriage or children at that age, but nobody asked her what she wanted. When my mom, aunt, and uncle went to high school, Hatidža copied their assignment questions, project questions, and exam questions in order to get the knowledge that high school students had. My grandmother attained a high school diploma in an informal way. When my mom, aunt, and uncle went to college, Hatidža repeated the same behavior. She asked for their assignments, projects, exams, and books, just like she did when they were in high school. Hatidža attained knowledge of law, economics, and business, but informally. She never received formal recognition even though she did all of the work.

I believe that the Serbian Chetniks and Croatian Ustašas are the equivalent of the German Nazis and the USA's KKK. I think that their parties should be eliminated from the face of the Earth using whatever means necessary.