Fehmi Ajvazi, an eminent author from Kosovo, has shared his book ‘In the Kingdom of Death’ published in Albanian in 2012 in Pristina, and in Romanian in 2019, and was translated from Albanian to English
[In March 1999, the Serbian regime blanketed Kosovo with a contingent of 120,000 regular police, military, and civilian paramilitary forces. Just about two weeks before NATO’s intervention in Kosovo began, the region was surrounded on all sides, while pockets of the interior (villages and towns) were hit with arrests, liquidations, and massacres. Kosovo became a reservation. A kingdom called the “Kingdom of Death” established authority everywhere! However, some areas were controlled by insurgent liberation forces, and in some places, Serbian forces couldn’t penetrate. Well, the hatred between Serbs and Albanians was the same, but the bullets were the same too: they brought death to everyone, and it was no problem for the “bullet” whether the target was Albanian or Serbian. I mean, the forces of the Kosovo Liberation Army held some territory and kept it free! But about ten days before NATO planes launched their attack in their battle for Kosovo, Albanian insurgents managed to have the world’s most powerful force as their ally: the NATO alliance. However, no one had managed to master a pact with death. Just a few days before March 24th, the “Lady of Death” was the ruler of Kosovo, in reality, she was the ruler of the Albanian citizens of this extremely small territory! And for the third time in history, the state of Serbia wanted nothing more and nothing less than: the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo. Over 1 million residents before March 24, 1999, challenged “this kingdom” by saying, “Here we are, your power is not the power of God!” I had decided to stay, not to leave. I was a journalist, but also a creator. And so, I had no idea what dilemmas lay in this direction, despite the open threats from the Serbs, and I knew well that they would try to wash their hands of us like Pontius Pilate! Regardless of every situation and circumstance, I sacrificed to be a witness to a time and a history without parallel! Yes, a witness…! And everything I have said and written about literary-historical conditions is in this book – a testimony. Therefore, this book is a source and my personal experience of a time I pray will never be repeated – anywhere. Just as I pray for the souls of those who did not come out alive in this “kingdom of death” in the third millennium! Read the truth about Kosovo… Author]
3rd, June
June 3rd, Here, where I am, not far from the border that separates three states (Albania, Macedonia, and Greece), in a wide valley surrounded by high mountain peaks, the sun is unforgiving. We have entered the third month since we were displaced. NATO bombings haven’t ceased. However, Belgrade still shows no real signs of surrender. Political and diplomatic efforts haven’t stopped, but the Serbian regime led by Milosevic is still not giving in. Nevertheless, the octopus is writhing in pain from the wounds it has received, and it is losing ground day by day.
I believe that because the octopus is writhing in pain from its wounds and is slowly surrendering, Kosovo will burst into the light of life and freedom after its surrender. It will burst into the kingdom of freedom. Is my freedom and that of my people approaching like a nymph, like an angel, to enter and never leave the body and soul of Kosovo? Yes, it is. Freedom is on its way, and the day when its true face will appear at the gates of Kosovo is not far off. Oh, how much I long to return to my homeland! Whether alive or dead. My son, Etnik, hasn’t even had the chance to see and recognize his birthplace. I want to return and savor the aroma of ripe barley in June. Have you ever tasted the intoxicating scent of ripe barley in June? I want to return and see the dreams that I have always seen there, to walk the streets and squares of Pristina, then, after a little rest, to go to the villages and see the fields and mountains, the meadows, the fields, the birds, the fluttering butterflies, if they are still there. But even if they are not, they will return.
June, 4th
Many devoted patriots, freedom fighters, and various activists of our cause have fallen on the field of honor. The news doesn’t stop: they come with a mournful rhythm, reaching us like echoes. Meanwhile, national and international solidarity for Kosovo is growing. Millions of people all over the world have turned their eyes towards Kosovo, and millions more are trying to understand where this place (Kosovo) is and what is happening there. Not only have millions learned where Kosovo is and what is happening there, but they are also showing solidarity in various forms with it and its people.
Serbs have turned into a universally despised people by the millions. Belgrade has become the most hated capital in the world. Milosevic is being compared to Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, and others. Serbs are trying to ethnically cleanse Kosovo. But the beginning of this month is deeply discouraging: besides the direct consequences of NATO bombings, the free world is demanding to strike at the heart of Belgrade with bombs and missiles. Therefore, a change in the course of bombings is being sought.
In the background, our long-delayed freedom is seeking to set off and arrive. “Delayed freedom,” the poet exclaimed. Oh, how long it has been since I thought about poetry. Poetry, this anxious and fearful nymph like a spring bird in a storm. No, I know it’s not the time for poetry and art. Yet, the poet must nourish his muse even in the midst of smoke and fire. The poet must nourish the muses of freedom, love, and the enslaved people even in the midst of war and death.
“When the gun dances, the muses fall silent,” they say. But no: from time to time, in every situation, we need spiritual nourishment. In fact, artistic freedom. We must nourish all our muses: as writers, as publicists, as journalists, as composers, as educators, as painters, and so on. Why does “Koha Ditore” still get published in Skopje? Why were classrooms opened in the camps? Because in every time, this is a holy mission: meditation, creation, education, and teaching. Our writer, Dritëro Agolli, in a conversation with an Argentine journalist, wrote about this issue: about the behavior of the cultural elite in times of war.
“What about writers and poets, what are they doing?” the Argentine journalist asked, and Agolli recounted. I told him that they have become participants in the great Albanian drama, writing in newspapers, speaking on the radio and television, meeting with fellow countrymen, and so on. “You may not have understood me,” the Argentine journalist replied, without noting anything from Agolli’s response. “I mean more specifically. Poets, are they writing verses? Prose writers, are they publishing reports and stories? Composers, are they composing songs? Painters, are they painting? As far as I know, during World War II, poets like Paul Éluard, Louis Aragon, and others were writing. Your war and your drama are not insignificant,” the Argentine journalist had added to Agolli’s response.
In Kosovo, the Serbs did this work, the “killing of the mind,” not only specifically and relentlessly but also in a planned manner.
Each occupier, such as these Serbs (without a doubt, no occupier can be considered a liberator), the first thing they do is tend to kill and erase the memory of the occupied. In other words, to kill their consciousness, their knowledge, and education. History has shown that when an enslaved people realize their position as unfree, or more precisely, their position as slaves, they turn to achieving freedom at all costs. Until this acceptance, every people have come only through the development and advancement of their minds, that is, through the development and advancement of their consciousness, education, and so on.
In Kosovo, the Serbs did this work, the “killing of the mind,” not only specifically and relentlessly but also in a planned manner. Like true inquisitors of the centuries, Serbs pursued, terrorized, deformed, changed, assimilated, and washed away the minds and consciousness of Albanians. They fought with all means: the Albanian language, Albanian books, Albanian schools, Albanian songs.
In this century of violence in Kosovo, the first occupation work the Serbs did was the assault on progressive thought, that is, the assault on those who spread the idea that Kosovo should have Albanian schools, advance politically and economically, and secure equal status with others in former Yugoslavia. In a barbaric style, in the late 80s and throughout the 90s (two full decades), Belgrade organized and activated all necessary mechanisms to strike at the heart of the Albanian language, Albanian schools, and education. Serbia, de facto and de jure, spread and used unprecedented violence in this direction. They struck everything, without pardon. For example, as soon as the autonomous government in Pristina was overthrown in 1989, the first thing the Serbs did was an unmerciful strike against the University, in a word, a strike against Albanian schools. Thus, it led to the closure of primary and secondary schools, leading to the closure of the University of Pristina, leading to the dissolution of dozens of cultural institutions, the closure of the Albanological Institute, and so on. Earlier, the Serbian regime had imprisoned, killed, and liquidated tens and hundreds of high school students, students, and educators.
In this century of violence in Kosovo, the first occupation work the Serbs did was the assault on progressive thought, that is, the assault on those who spread the idea that Kosovo should have Albanian schools, advance politically and economically
The regime organized the burning of millions of copies of Albanian books, and millions more were sent to be melted down in paper factories all over former Yugoslavia. It was an old saying of one of the true Serbian chauvinists, Nikola Pašić, about Albanians, and it said: “Ubij i muči, i ne daju da uči” (Kill and torment but don’t let them learn).
In the circumstances we are in, the role of progressive thought, the role of elites, intellectuals, literary creators, journalists, is extraordinary and historic. Oh, how right that Argentine journalist was. Why? Inside Kosovo, there is a chaotic situation: the number of civilians killed and massacred is unknown, the number of abductions and disappearances is unknown. The looting of material wealth, the burning of property, the insane appetite of the Serbs to erase our ethnic identity (burning various personal documents, photographs, destroying archives, demolishing monuments, burning books, looting cadastral records, confiscating personal notebooks from offices, destroying school and college documentation, and so on) is somewhat comprehensive information about the current situation. The situation of those who are still alive in Kosovo (and are in total isolation) is not only unknown but also terrifying.
(Post scriptum: Milosevic, most likely, is hurrying to erase everything Albanian from the face of the earth…) (Continues)
Click here for Part-1, Part-2, Part-3, Part-4, Part-5, Part-6, Part-7, Part-8, Part-9, Part-10, Part-11, Part-12, Part-13, Part-14, Part-15, Part-16, Part-17, Part-18, Part-19, Part-20, Part-21, Part-22, Part-23, Part-24, Part-25, Part-26, Part-27, Part-28, Part-29, Part-30, Part-31, Part-32, Part-33,
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[The book ‘In the Kingdom of Death’ is being reproduced in episodes with the consent of the author]
