Nejra Lilic revealed that her husband took the last name of her father, Nijaz Lilic, who was killed in the Srebrenica genocide.
The criminals killed Nijaz while Nejra was still in her mother’s womb.
“Our wedding gift to ourselves, to my father, and from my father to us. We have non-traditionally, but beautifully, combined our names. We did this to honor my father’s last name, which would otherwise have ceased to exist, and to mark the beginning of our life together, where both heritages come together,” she wrote.
She added that she is grateful to have a partner who rises above societal expectations and that she loves calling him her own.
“This is one of the steps towards healing a society that was destroyed by genocide. Thank you, Dad, I know you sent him to me. Yours, Nejra and Deymos Lilic-Borgen,” she concluded.
Earlier, in an interview, she mentioned that her father was 22 years old when he was killed and that it is known he died in uniform, unarmed. Even today, she does not know his exact path.
“My mother somehow, pregnant with me, managed to get to Tuzla and then Sarajevo. I don’t want to compare my pain, but it is still present. I don’t know if there is a greater pain and what it must be like to overcome the one where a person outlives their father, who was innocently taken,” she said.
