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Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia QUOTES

Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia QUOTES

1 " I realize that what happened in Bosnia could happen anywhere in the world, particularly in places that are diverse and have a history of conflict. It only takes bad leadership for a country to go up in flames, for people of different ethnicity, color, or religion to kill each other as if they had nothing in common whatsoever. Having a democratic constitution, laws that secure human rights, police that maintain order, a judicial system, and freedom of speech don't ultimately guarantee long lasting peace. If greedy or bloodthirsty leaders come to power, it can all go down. It happened to us. It can happen to you. "

― Savo Heleta , Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia

2 " The story Grandpa told us helped me realize that people cannot be divided into groups by ethnicity, religion, or any other feature, only into groups of good, bad, and indifferent people. "

― Savo Heleta , Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia

3 " My mom and dad refused to believe that people who had grown up together in peace and friendship, had gone to the same schools, spoken the same language, and listened to the same music, could overnight be blinded by ethnic hatred and start to brutally kill one another. They simply didn't accept as true that less than two years of a multiparty system and competition for power could poison people's brains so much. "

― Savo Heleta , Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia

4 " Still, I never heard him say that he hated or wanted to hurt or kill someone for all the horrific things that had been happening to him and his family. "

― Savo Heleta , Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia

5 " The Red Cross, our last hope, had left us to starve. "

― Savo Heleta , Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia

6 " We had watched the Sacramento Kings, my favorite NBA team, playing the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers had won but it was still fun, especially since we had tickets for the third row. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Vlade Divac and Predrag Stojakovic, two Serbs playing in the Kings, waving at me and saying hello. They recognized the jersey of Divac's former team from Belgrade that I had been wearing. "

― Savo Heleta , Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia