What if you survived the Bosnian genocide? [Rebroadcast Ep277]
This Is Actually Happening
Audible
4.6 • 10.4K Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2026
⏱️ 64 minutes
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Summary
From an idyllic childhood in communist Yugoslavia, as a teenager, Mirsad’s world becomes a living nightmare as the Bosnian War brings shelling, torture, murder and ethnic cleansing to his village, leaving deep scars that haunt and transform his life.
Today's episode featured Mirsad Solakovic. If you would like to contribute to help the Solak Gym (a charitable organization) that Mirsad helped create, you can donate through PayPal at solakgym@hotmail.com. You can see and find out more about the gym on Instagram @solakgym. You can also find out more about Mirsad on Instagram @mickey_solak and on Twitter @MirsadSolakovic, there you can find links to his memoir "The Boy Who Said Nothing"
Producers: Whit Missildine
Content/Trigger Warnings: war, murder, ethnic cleansing, graphic violence, torture of a minor, graphic bodily injury, rape, suicidal ideation, explicit language
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to exclusive episodes of This Is Actually Happening |
| 0:05.0 | by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:09.6 | This Is Actually Happening features real experiences that often include traumatic events. |
| 0:13.9 | Please consult the show notes for specific content warnings on each episode |
| 0:17.0 | and for more information about support services. |
| 0:32.3 | Hi listeners. Today we bring you the fifth episode of our annual three-week winter rebroadcast series. |
| 0:42.0 | We'll return with all new episodes starting January 13th. Today's rebroadcast episode, What If You Survived the Bosnian Genocide, originally aired as Episode 277 on May 9th, 2023. |
| 0:46.7 | Today's episode features Mirzad Salakovich, a survivor of the Bosnian genocide. |
| 0:52.2 | Before we begin this episode, it will help to give some brief background of the Bosnian war. Before we begin this episode, it will help to give some brief |
| 0:55.1 | background of the Bosnian War, which is incredibly complex, and this will be a very, very incomplete |
| 1:00.6 | portrait. But it will help give some context to Mir Saad's experiences, and I encourage you all |
| 1:05.8 | to research more about it. The Bosnian War was a three-year armed conflict that took place in what is now |
| 1:12.6 | Bosnian-Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war was part of the breakup of Yugoslavia, |
| 1:20.2 | a former communist country that comprised what is today seven different countries, including |
| 1:24.9 | Croatia, Bosnian-Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, |
| 1:30.1 | Montenegro, and Kosovo. |
| 1:32.4 | In the 1980s, the rapid decline of the economy of Yugoslavia led to internal strife and independence |
| 1:38.2 | movements, destabilizing the country. |
| 1:40.9 | As Yugoslavia was breaking up, the republics within began declaring independence, |
| 1:45.4 | beginning with Croatia and Slovenia in 1991. Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence |
| 1:51.6 | in February 1992. After declaring independence, a series of violent internal struggles for |
| 1:58.2 | control ensued, and a brutal Serbian political leader, |
... |
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