A new book tells the stories of the survivors of the massacre in Krusha e Vogël/Mala Krusha on March 26, 1999 – when Serbian forces shot and burned the bodies of some 113 people
By Serbeze Haxhiaj
PRISTINA – “Brains have roots,” Qamil Shehu said, recalling the moment when he last saw his two sons before Serbian forces in Kosovo set the house on fire, killing them and over 100 other people from the village. “They groaned and sobbed from the pain and asked for help. But screams sound like whispers,” he added.
“I raised my head and saw my sons Shani and Veli among the bodies. I stood up among the dead. I wanted to die from bullets, not be burned alive. Then I kissed the forehead of my sons and escaped through the window. I set off towards the creek and started to walk up the hill, not knowing where to go. When I regained consciousness it was morning and I was in a forest.”
This is a quotation from Shehu – who has since died – in a recently published book in English entitled “A Village Slain”, co-authored by Agron Limani and the journalist Qemail Krasniqi – a powerful chronicle of murder, burnings and trauma.
It retells the stories of the people who lost their loved ones in the massacre carried out in the village of Krusha e Vogël/Mala Krusha, in Prizren municipality, one of the most notorious crimes Serbian forces committed in the war in Kosovo of the late-1990s.
The massacre – a shocking act of revenge – took place at noon on March 26, 1999, two days after NATO launched airstrikes against Serbian forces, operating under the ultimate command of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.
Shehu and 118 other men and boys, his two sons included, were separated from their families and placed in a small house in the village. They were then shot and the house set on fire.
Co-authors Limani and Krasniqi follow the victims’ stories from the past to the present, over the two decades that have elapsed since the armed conflict ended with Serbia’s enforced withdrawal.
“From the beginning to its end, this book is a tale of cruelty, slaughter and impunity. It contains no heroes, only victims and executioners,” Limani told BIRN.
The book contains 55 interviews with survivors and family members of the victims. Some of them have since passed away, including two of the six survivors.
“We worked for more eight years on this book, collecting evidence and interviewing survivors and family members. The book is a memory of an atrocity that happened as well as of the silence and impunity surrounding it,” Limani said.
Parts of the evidence collected about the massacre was previously handed over to prosecutors from the UN and EU missions. Some of it became part of the indictment issued against Darko Tasic, a Serbian resident of the village. Last month he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the massacre.
“One person was convicted but there has been no justice. There are still 68 missing people for whom the trial failed to provide any information,” said Limani – whose own father, brother and two uncles perished in the massacre.
Limani, who now heads the “26 March” Association for Research of the Kidnapped and Missing People, said the book also contains evidence about the significant role local Serbs played in the massacre. “Some of them took part in the massacre and then helped with the disappearance of the bodies,” Limani asserted.
The massacre is among the worst massacres in the entire Kosovo conflict where most of the victims are still missing.
Limani and Krasniqi portray the bitter tragedy that families in Krusha e Vogel experienced during the war and the effects of the conflict on their later lives and feelings.
It highlights the painful memories of the survivors, some of whom died without ever getting a chance to tell their story to a prosecutor or to a court.
The youngest survivor or victim, Mursel Hajdari, was 12 years old when he was taken from the hands of his mother. The oldest victim was 89.
Mursel’s mother, Nexhmije, who died in 2019, recalled in the book the moment when Mursel asked: “Mum, am I old enough to go with the men?”
Among the few things left from the eight members of the Hajdari family who died in the massacre is Sahit Hajdari’s wheelchair. A disabled man of 40, he was also thrown into the house of execution.
As the flames spread throughout two rooms and the corridor where the victims were gathered, Qamil Shehu and the other survivors recalled that as they planned to get away, they saw Sahit had been killed; his head hung over his wheelchair. His remains are also missing.
Limani says the information they have gathered shows that the massacre was indeed planned, as part of a so-called Operation “Horseshoe”, which aimed to expel ethnic Albanians and ethnically cleanse the land of Kosovo.
“It is very clear that there was a deliberate, organised effort to ethnically cleanse the territory because such a massive massacre could not be implemented without planning and preparation,” Limani said.
“Apart from providing evidence, this book is a voice for those who died over the years without having an opportunity to shed light on what happened on that tragic day in the village,” Krasniqi said.
He said that while justice has been denied, vengeful feelings remain fresh among many relatives of the victims.
“While the culture of atrocity denial continues, and aims to blur the truth, efforts to normalize relations and for reconciliation can never succeed,” he concluded. /BIRN, July 31,2020
