Dragoljub Aleksic
Documenting Dragoljub ‘Alex’ Aleksic’s story in 2000 was a profound experience. Alex grew up on his parents farm in Yugoslavia and was taken prisoner of war at the age of 16.
7 February 1925 - 20 March 2011
Looking back at a university project from the year 2000, it’s incredible to see how much life has changed. At the time, my classmate Liam and I were tasked with creating a website for a university assessment. Little did we know then that our lives would stay connected far beyond graduation; Liam is the father of my niece and nephews,
The subject of our project was Dragoljub ‘Alex’ Aleksic, a Yugoslavian man who immigrated to Australia in the 1950s. To my children, Alex was a legendary figure, their great-grandfather.
Documenting his story was a profound experience. Over the course of several months, Liam and I sat down with Alex to record his history. Even now, those conversations stand out as some of the most courageous and emotional I have ever recorded.
Alex was a man of action with a "just do it" attitude that defined his journey as a migrant. Despite the challenges he faced, I characterised him by two traits: kindness and deep gratefulness.
Below are screenshots of the original website we built.
