A wall of bullets

 A wall of bullets  

 

25th of May was one of the best days I’ve had these past weeks. I’ve been overloaded with work and study for exams and a day like that was a must. I’m from Ulqin and I didn’t have the opportunity to know much about Kosovo's history. I visited one of the most valuable places in Kosovo which is the house of the family of heroes “Jashari” in Prekaz which is called “Memorial Complex Adem Jashari”. I have heard about this history a little but seeing the house where the history lives in, was a completely different experience. I’m so thankful that I had this opportunity to visit such an amazing place. 

I and my colleague Dorentina Selimi went together to Prekaz and had the most wonderful time. First, we went to the house where the family Jashari used to live before the war in 1998. From the first view, we got the idea of what happened at that time by the look of that house even though they tried to protect it from being reduced to rubble. The house approaches the representation of the traumatic space in the most respectful and sensitive way. It tries to avoid any kind of intervention towards the existing building and the surrounding terrain which has other houses that are almost destroyed.

As we were climbing the stairs and watching over the house, I could imagine the terrifying moments this family has gone through. We saw the wall of the house full of bullets which gave me an indescribable number of emotions. Those bullets in the wall will live in my memories forever because I will always try to imagine their reaction to them. The first attack was in January 1998, it was early in the morning and the house was full. In that house were little kids and they were traumatized after that situation until the last attack which was in March when most of them died. After we saw the house where they used to live before the war, we went to watch the graveyard which was so heartbreaking to see. The graveyard is surrounded by beautiful green grass and bridges which makes it a very panoramic view. After that, we went to the museum near the house so we can learn more about the history and we also saw Sala Jashari's headkerchief, earing and baking pan. We also saw the table where they used to eat all together as a happy family.

Another memorable day that is worth mentioning is a day at the National Museum in Prishtina. It was very interesting watching those ancient things. We saw Roman Period coins, oil lamp, candelabrum, monument dedicated to the Dardanian goddess Dea Dardanicea, Mother Theresa's mosaic, and many other vessels. There were also many things that were connected with the family in Prekaz which we visited the other day like weapons of different types that they used during the attack, uniforms of the soldiers, laptops and satellite phones, motorcycle of the hero “Adem Jashari” etc. One part that made me so sad was seeing the evidence of Serbian violence during the war, weapons, syringes, spears, etc. 

Visiting these two places, the memorial complex Adem Jashari and the National Museum of Prishtina made me learn so many things which I didn’t know before and I'm so thankful for it. Learning about Kosovo's past made me realize what people of that time have gone through and how thankful we should be for the time we live in. 

                        Photo by: Dorentina Selimi