German and Bosnian Voices in a Time of Crisis

The 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, the most violent chapter in the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, forced more than 2,000,000 people from their homes. Europe witnessed the greatest refugee crisis since the end of World War II and Germany became the primary refuge for Bosnians fleeing the fighting. "German and Bosnian Voices In A Time Of Crisis" is the story of what happened during those war years and afterwards when nearly 350,000 Bosnians came to Germany. The story is told with precision and eloquence by William Walker, a journalist with intimate knowledge of Germany, his home for more than 30 years, and the Balkan region, where he worked often during the last two decades. "German and Bosnian Voices In A Time Of Crisis" began as a doctoral dissertation in 2005 at the Seminar of East European History of Heidelberg University. The author, William Walker, was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree for this study of the refugees' time in Germany. The dissertation, which was the result of two years of interviews throughout Germany and the Balkans, was accepted with honors by the university in December 2009. In praising "German and Bosnian Voices" as an eloquently written, groundbreaking document, one of the university evaluators noted, "This work brings us closer to an understanding of the basic problem of German history in the 1990s. Above all it puts our focus on the victims of the history."