Ismeta Mahmuljin from Kozarusa near Prijedor has been searching for the remains of her son Edin, whom she saw for the last time in the spring of 1992, for more than 30 years.
Edin Mahmuljin was 25 years old in 1992 and was employed in Slovenia.
The whole village was surrounded by cannons. We all set out to save ourselves in May 1992. We ran away first into the forest. Shells fell like rain. The sky was shining. In the morning, when it calmed down, the women and children went towards Kozarac, and the grown men, including Edin, went through the forest to reach the free territory. We separated on May 25th or 26th, 1992. He never appeared again,” recalls Edin’s mother.
Ismeta ended up in the “Trnopolje” camp in Prijedor with her daughter-in-law and grandson.
“When we arrived in Kozarac, we were captured there. We were transported by bus to the school in Trnopolje. Conditions at school were very difficult. There were a lot of closed people. We were only there for one night. My daughter-in-law’s house was near the school. I asked the head guard to go over there so that the child could relax a bit and ear. He let us go. We were in the house of the mom of my daughter-in-law for about fifteen days,” Ismeta told and explained that at that time she did not know where her son was.
Not long after being released from the camp, Ismeta had another encounter with members of the Serbian forces.
“A group of 12 soldiers came and drove us out of the house. My grandson was in my arms. A soldier asked where his father was. I said we separated and we don’t know where he or others are. He snatched the child from my hands and threatened to slaughter him. An older soldier took the child from him and returned it. He caressed child’s arms and handed him back to me. If I knew who he was, I would repay him,” says Ismeta 30 years later.
In a house without electricity and water, across the street from the “Trnopolje” camp, they lived in fear after that event.
Ismeta is 80 years old today and lives alone in Kozarusa, where she returned in 2002.
“We were in Zenica for 15 days. From there we fled to Croatia. Daughter-in-law and grandson, her mother and sister left Zagreb for Sweden. I stayed in Zagreb for ten years. I heard from the people from Prijedor, who were liberated from the Prijedor camps, in Zagreb that my son was captured somewhere between Orahova and Bosanska Gradiska and that he was killed,” says Ismeta.
Her brother and sister did not get to see the search for their sons’ remains.
“My sister‘s son was killed, Esed Mahmuljin. The brother’s three sons were killed – Ekrem, Nedzad and Velid Besic. They are from Kozarac. Their remains have been found and at least they can rest in peace. The brother died in America, and the sister in Sweden, and they didn’t see their funerals. I hope that I will see it when they find Edin’s bones. I keep calling these guys who do exhumations. They just say that they can’t find him because no one will tell them where the graves are,” explained Ismeta Mahmuljin, Detektor reports.
E.Dz.
