CHICAGO — A Northwest Side resident who survived one of the Bosnian War’s most brutal concentration camps is leading a deeply personal mission: to build a permanent memorial in Chicago honoring the thousands of victims killed during the conflict.
Mirsad “Mike” Causevic, now 56 and living in Sauganash, endured months in a Serbian-run concentration camp during the 1990s war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Having lost both of his brothers to the violence and surviving harrowing abuse, he is now seeking to raise awareness with a powerful statue.
A Vision for Healing and Education
If realized, the 12-foot-tall statue will stand as a tribute to the 3,176 lives lost from his homeland. The design features an imprisoned man standing with his head bowed before a clear barrier — behind which grieving family members reach out, unable to touch him. The figure’s downcast stance symbolizes the forced posture Causevic and others were subjected to during their internment.
“We were beaten and tortured, or deprived of basic human needs,” said Causevic, who has written a memoir titled Death In The White House recounting his experience at the notorious Omarska camp.
Why Chicago Matters
Though he once hoped to place the monument in his hometown of Prijedor, Bosnia, Causevic doesn’t believe the Serbian government will ever acknowledge its wartime atrocities. That’s why he believes Chicago is the right place — especially given its large Bosnian population, many of whom arrived here as refugees in the 1990s.
About 40,000 Bosnians resettled in the city, and Causevic says a public-facing location will bring their stories to light.
“Putting the statue in a Bosnian Cultural Center won’t help,” he explained. “That will only be seen by us, the same people who survived it… Other people need to know.”
Project Details and Support
Causevic paid Sarajevo-based architect Faruk Pirić $3,000 years ago to design the statue, but the project was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now back in motion, he estimates the memorial will cost between $50,000 and $100,000 — funds he says the Bosnian community will raise themselves.
He has discussed potential locations with 40th Ward Ald. Andre Vasquez, who said he’s reviewing possibilities for public placement.
From Survivor to Entrepreneur
Causevic’s life in America is also a testament to resilience. After surviving starvation and trauma, he arrived in Chicago with help from the United Nations and began rebuilding. He started out delivering for Ace Hardware at $5.75 an hour before enrolling at Coyne College. Eventually, he worked for the Museum of Science and Industry and built a real estate business that led him to start Oasis Heating & Cooling, which now employs 19 people in West Ridge.
He has also spoken at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and is helping fund a film project titled Traka, referring to the white armbands non-Serbs were forced to wear.
“I was mentally and physically gone… I touched the bottom and I rose up,” Causevic said. “It was all up to me, showing up to work, dreaming about goals.”
More Than a Memorial
Causevic hopes the monument won’t just honor the dead but also inspire immigrants and survivors around the world.
“The Bosnian immigrants are resilient people,” he said. “I’m proof that in this country it doesn’t matter who you are if you work hard.”
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