...Here I met Hayredin Dubravac, the only one among the Yugoslav Moslems who spoke English. He was a short, studious youth, wearing glasses and dressed in a rumpled white shirt and drab trousers. There was a beaten look about him.

"Ahh, from Amerika. How glad I am to see an Amerikan!"...

[After telling Carlson how little they had to eat...]..."I cannot understand this," I said. "You fought for the Arab cause. A few months ago I saw a Yugoslav who had lost his arm in Haifa. Why are they treating you this way?"

...After a while Hayredin spoke again. "There is a saying: 'If you have not been poor you cannot appreciate riches.' I am sure you will love America better after you have finished seeing the Arab countries. If I were in America I would not leave it even for a second. I would stay till I grew roots in the ground." Hayredin said this with such emotion that I swallowed hard. "The Syrian municipality pays us sixty piastres a day [20 cents] on which to buy food, clothing, and other necessities. We cut each other's hair and sharpen our razor blades on a stone. It has taken me nine days to get a pair of used shoes from the Islam Relief Foundation."...

..."I am Croatian, the son of a well-to-do father. I was studying to be a pharmacist when the Grand Mufti came and urged us to fight for Islam by joining the German army/ Thousands of us did what we thought was our duty. I was captured and made prisoner in Italy. After the war many of us were afraid to go back because we fought on the side of Pavelich. The International Refugee Organization offered us a choice of going to almost any country. When the Arab League promised to take care of the three thousand Moslems, I picked Syria because the Arabs are my religious brothers. But I am disappointed."

"Did you fight in Palestine?"

"Of course. Where do you think I got these clothes? Nowhere except from the Jews! Those who didn't fight have no clothes today. I fought four months. Many of my friends are still with the Arab armies. Those with technical ability are working for the Syrian government. Others are working as servants and laborers, receiving half of what an Arab gets. I have been offered farm work for 2.50 lira [70 cents] but I cannot buy shoes and clothing which will need replacement, and the heavy food I will have to ewat for the heavy work. It's more economical to stay here and do nothing. Our future is absolutely dark," Hayredin said resignedly. "No one wants us now. We can not get a visa to go elsewhere. We are stateless, homeless, friendless."

This was their reward for helping fight the Jehad.