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 

Fehmi Ajvazi author

[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]

At least, not like this, in this way. The path to the future will change for both peoples. And if there is fortune for nations, just as there is fortune for individuals, our future (meaning, the future of the Albanian people in Kosovo) is entering the orbit of the inescapable labyrinths of positive change. Each Albanian in Kosovo (indeed, not only each Albanian but also every Bosniak, Turk, Rom, etc.), who will survive the Serbian knives and bullets, will no longer have to endure this old, dreadful Golgotha. The road to our future, for each who will escape the Serbian knife and bullet, will begin to manifest differently.

We are now residents in the “kingdom” of Fire

(Supplementary note: Nobody, absolutely nobody, can know the consequences of this storm that is approaching rapidly until the end. Nobody. Except those who will experience it. Nobody, no one, will be able to fully comprehend the living hell that surrounds us, and nobody will experience it as we do (until the end), the core of this hell that has barely begun. We are now residents in the “kingdom” of Fire. Serbs are appearing more and more insane day by day, from hour to hour, from minute to minute. They are behaving like beasts. But we are awaiting the start of the bombardments. Even I. Whatever happens, happens. Because, no matter how deep we are within the real kingdom of fear and death, nobody can measure, with anything, my feeling of joy or our feeling of joy…)

Glogovac

THE BEGINNING OF BOMBARDMENTS

The initial strikes

Before the main news of the day began, Nik and I went to our first neighbor, Shaban Gërbeshi. We lived on the same floor. Only the walls of a Serbian apartment separated us, inhabited by a solitary individual. Ethnically, he seemed entirely calm, almost childlike. Certainly, he kept his worries and problems far away from us! Uncle Shaban was a respectable, honest, and close neighbor, with a wise and controlled nature. By profession, he was a driver, and he had a long experience working at the giant Ferronikeli Company in Gllogovc. It had only been a few days since he had been released from Serbian prison, based on the annulment of the criminal procedure due to lack of evidence. This was perhaps one of the last processes in the entire “Serbian justice” system in Kosovo, which, without hiding much for over a hundred years, had created chaos against the Albanians.

Podgorica

We went to Uncle Shaban’s to watch the news on TVSH (satellite program) together, so we could learn the latest updates. In fact, we wanted to find out what was happening in Kosovo, or what was “expected” to happen. We didn’t have alternative sources of information, and the situation was difficult and full of violence and crimes, with fierce fighting. Albanian Television from Tirana (RTSH) had been, for us in Kosovo, a small window screen in the midst of the information drought that had engulfed us for years. Meanwhile, the waves of the “Free Kosovo” radio station often struggled to reach Pristina. During the day, Albanian-language radio stations like “Free Europe,” “Voice of America,” and “Deutsche Welle” primarily broadcasted political statements from various international officials regarding the anxious and perilous situation in Kosovo and around Kosovo. They also relayed anonymous statements from high-ranking state and military figures from influential nations, warning that there could be no turning back: once the ultimatum given to Belgrade expired, NATO forces would commence bombardments. And the “green light” had already been given to NATO’s Supreme Commander, General Wesley Clark. Events in Kosovo were now entering the realm of dramatic developments, heading into an unknown turning point. Kosovo was at the center of global attention. There was no form of media (written, radio, visual) that did not have the situation in Kosovo and its surrounding circumstances as its top priority. Everyone had turned their eyes and ears towards Kosovo to learn what was happening and what would happen on this Wednesday, March 24, 1999.

The positioning of NATO military forces against the “FRY,” which included Kosovo and was the core of the attack, seemed to have entered an inevitable alternative to the use of force. The “international politics” of favoring Belgrade to avoid intervention appeared to be losing ground. And as this day was moving towards its end, it is precisely this day (March 24th) that could bring planes loaded with bombs and missiles into the skies of Kosovo, to confront and kneel the Serbian beast. Uncle Shaban welcomed us.

At 19:13, when we sat down on the couch, Uncle Shaban’s granddaughter immediately took Etnik from Shpresa’s arms. The adults among us had become glued to the television screen. We couldn’t get enough of it as we sipped on our Coca-Cola drinks. Our comments on the situation were as optimistic as they were concerning. The reports were alarming: war, violence, murder, and so on. The clock hands marked the exact time: 7:30. We had no choice but to watch the news from the Serbian television stations in Belgrade (RTS) or Pristina (RTP – a quisling television station in the Albanian language). Both of these television stations were directly controlled by Milosevic’s national-communist regime.

In these circumstances, it occurred to me that we could also follow the news from the Podgorica television (RTVCG), news that were broadcast on the satellite program. The Podgorica television had recently changed its editorial policy and was more objective, with less censorship. The Podgorica television (formerly Titograd) provided more fact-based information about events in Kosovo and the overall crisis reflecting Kosovo’s situation. The central news of this television station had also begun. According to a programming scheme inherited from the time of former Yugoslavia, almost all television stations (in Zagreb, Belgrade, Podgorica, Pristina, etc.) aired their central evening news at the same time: precisely at 19:30. It seemed to be 7:37 when we were fixated on the television screen! The news anchor stopped in the middle of reading a paragraph of a news story. She stopped to present another news item: the exclusive world news. Among other things, she said, “…from the Aviano airbase in Italy, NATO bomber planes have taken off and are flying towards Yugoslavia and Kosovo.”

We understood very well what the news anchor said. We understood. There was not a drop of blood left in our faces. Even she, the news anchor, delivered the news quite calmly. In fact, she looked pale, almost numb. It was a brief news item, but so incredibly significant. Well…

All of us adults, who were in front of the screen at Uncle Shaban’s family, didn’t know what to say to each other. It began, I thought to myself. “It began,” the thing we had prayed for so much, or it began what was already expected to begin. All of us there, in inexplicable dimensions of experience, managed to only look at each other without saying a word. On the screen, there were original shots of the planes from their initial position taking off from the Aviano airbase in Italy, heading towards the Balkans, as well as shots of the American aircraft carrier “Theodore Roosevelt” stationed in the Adriatic. The heavy noise of military aircraft like F-16s, F/A-18s, B-52s, and Tomahawk-BGM-109 missiles could be heard. Oh, for us in Kosovo, this was a proud, powerful, and salvation-bringing noise. NATO’s political and military structure, composed of powerful countries like the USA, UK, Germany, France, Turkey, Italy, Spain, etc., was beginning to move to crush the Serbian dinosaurs. The momentary silence had turned us into stone. Much of it was understandable. But in the midst of the silence, as well as the self-evident jubilation, perhaps we were secretly wondering how long it would take for NATO planes to arrive in Kosovo’s skies. Simultaneously, there were also the “Cruise” and “Tomahawk” missiles that would be launched from the warships anchored in the Adriatic. (Continues)

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Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"