Two men, miles apart, look at each other through a video call 29 years later. The Dutch army veteran begins the conversation sarcastically: “What happened to you, you used to have hair?”
He is asking about Amir Mujanovic’s hair, who has probably been sought online by hundreds of people over the last 15 days, and whom the Dutchman remembers as a 12-year-old boy in Srebrenica.
The search was initiated through the Srebrenica Memorial Center by veteran Ad van Alphen, a former major and one of those who was in the Dutch battalion of the United Nations (UN) in the protected enclave, where the forces of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) committed genocide against more than 8.000 Bosniaks in July 1995.
Van Alphen had kept gifts he received from Amir in Srebrenica for 29 years, including a toy guitar, a photograph, and a piece of paper with the name “Samir Mujanovic.”
In the UN’s “protected” Srebrenica, Van Alphen used to call the then 12-year-old boy his protector because Amir, with childlike kindness, almost regularly watched over his car in front of the UN office.
In return, he would receive sweets or fruit from the major. Amir says he would happily go to the refugee apartment and share it with his brother and sisters.
‘You were my only hope’
“I waited every day for you to come out of that building (the UN office in Srebrenica),” was among the first things Amir said to Ad.
“Yes, we met almost every day,” Van Alphen replied.
“Can I be honest, I always hoped you would give me something. That was my full-time job,” Amir said.
“Why did you keep my gifts all these years?” Amir asked.
“I hoped that maybe I could do something for you later, but I was never allowed to return to Srebrenica that year, and I couldn’t do anything from the Netherlands.”
“I don’t even know how to describe life in Srebrenica. Something kept me going, the desire to live, and to help my family. You were my only hope. I sat there and waited for you. I thought – if I lose this car, I lost him,” Amir said.
