UNMIK on AIR
War
Stories
Slug: In 1999, Albanian poet Xhevdet Bajraj
and Serbian writer Vladimir Arsenijevic met in Mexico City. Thanks to their
friendship, the ground has been laid for re-establishing cultural links between
Albanians and Serbs.
Hello and welcome. This is UNMIK on AIR programme
At the beginning of 1999, mere kilometers separated those living in Kosovo and Serbia from the scarred scenes of terror, violence and killings.
At the same time, Albanian poet Xhevdet Bajraj and Serbian writer Vladimir Arsenijevic found themselves together in Mexico.
Invited by the International Writer’s Parliament, both men-- seemingly on opposite sides of the war raging in their homelands-- became neighbors in Mexico City.
As unlikely as it seemed, this coincidence resulted in a friendship, collaboration and eventually a book.
In 1999, whether in Kosovo or Serbia- war stories were in the public consciousness… the stories and testimonies of hundreds of thousands of people and their everyday reality would never be told.
Xhevdet Bajraj and Vladimir Arsenijevic had their war stories too: Xhevdet Bajraj, himself had been tortured and had witnessed horrifying crimes committed against Albanian civilians at the hands of Serbs-- including members of his family….Bajraj eventually became a refugee.
Vladimir Arsenijevic, no stranger to the scars of the Balkan landscape, was in Belgrade during the bombing campaign, and it was there where he started writing down his thoughts and taking daily notes in his diary. Arsenijevic had to leave the country illegally in order to accept the invitation to Mexico.
In July of 1999, these two men, one a respected poet from Orahovac/Rahovec and the other a novel writer, laureate of the most prestigious Serbian literary awards, found their version of peace together in Mexico.
Arsenijevic recalls his first days in Mexico:
Vladimir Arsenijevic: “On the very first day, after the
airport, we were sitting together in my apartment. It became to be a very intensive
friendship, fulfilled with fine emotions that at the end resulted with almost
one year long living together in Mexico City (Edit to) Put a side Albanian -
Serbian story, it story in a way is just a façade (make up) Xhevdet is the man
that listens to same music like me that likes same movies, who has similar
interest in literature, with whom I have millions of different subjects to
discuss, with whom I was never bored. It is someone in whom I’ve recognized a
real good friend. Everything wouldn’t have that tough context if we were an
Eskimo and Honduras. But it happened to be that we are a Serb and an Albanian
and simple friendship gets a special meaning.”
This simple friendship blossomed with the stories and experiences the men had in common, and eventually they turned their experiences into a book, later published in a joint edition in Serbia and published both books in Kosovo.
Arsenijevic started his diary during the bombing campaign in Belgrade and continued to write it in Mexico. Unintentionally Xhevdet Bajraj became a part of Arsenijevic’s book “Mexico – A war Diary”.
As Arsenijevic explains, he just wanted to tell a simple story about two men coming from Belgrade and Kosovo, who were trying to find a way out of the horror:
Arsenijevic: “The thing that I found most striking, and
that was literary important for me is the feeling that these are two common,
ordinary stories, that they are not specific and that they are telling the
destiny of absolutely everybody in Belgrade or in Kosovo.”
When he came back to Belgrade in 2000 Arsenijevic established the Rende publishing house - the first two books, published simultaneously in 2000, in the Serbian language were “Meksiko - ratni dnevnik/ Mexico- a war diary” and “Freedom of Horror/ Liria e tmerrit” by Xhevdet Bajraj .
At the same time these books appeared in Albanian in
Pristina, published by the private Pristina
“Sabaium bb" publishing house. Arsenijevic
says it was a breakthrough to publish these books but it also illustrated how
deep of a divide exists between the two nations:
Arsenijevic: “It was the climax of the last phase of
the “continuous Serbian-Albanian problem”. We thought it was important to start
with something that was up to date but also to introduce a prominent writer and
poet from Kosovo like Xhevdet Bajraj, despite the problems between Serbs and
Albanians.”
According to Arsenijevic, publishing an Albanian writer in Serbian and vice versa was resisted by the public in Kosovo- the books were ignored in literary discourse.
Xhevdet Bajraj: “I think that “Mexico – A War Diary”
was not very well accepted in Prsitina. I don’t know why. Maybe people live in
memories and to say maybe the reality doesn’t allow them to read literature.
There were no comments on this book in Kosovo.”
Bajraj adds that this silence in Kosovo to the publication
of the books demonstrated a significant disruption in former cultural links,
which had once existed between Serbs and Albanians.
As Bajraj explains, deep wounds and scars on both sides,
troubled by unresolved political issues has created huge obstacles which now
impede real cultural contacts.
Xhevdet Bajraj: “The reality today is horrible, which is
not even that strong of a word. I think that is horrible. Half of Milosevic’s
people are still on power in Serbia. Nationalism is growing again. Young Kosovo
people don’t travel. Cultural contacts have been disturbed. Young Kosovo people
look at young Serbs as their opposed side. In the same manner young Serbs look
at Albanians. Then the conflict happened. I think that those killings,
committed by Serbs and their support to Milosevic in the past and today to
radicals and afterwards return of Albanians to Kosovo and their revenge on
Serbs, left deep wounds. Albanians can’t accept that their destiny is going to
be decided in Belgrade and on the other hand Serbs are afraid and between
Kosovo and Serbia they choose Serbia.”
Bajraj is certain that older generations didn’t break all their cultural contacts, but he’s afraid that younger people will have more difficulties in forging cultural links with their neighbors:
Xhevdet Bajraj: “I think that UNMIK and representatives
of ethnic groups should work hard on it but without a political pressure. I
believe that every step coming from any side will be marked as a betrayal
before the resolution of Kosovo status.”
Again, Vladimir Arsenijevic.
Arsenijevic: “I think that the new generations that are
growing up under different circumstances will find some new cultural references
that will help establish communication links. I think that we the people from
the Southern Balkans, from former Yugoslavia have some similarities and it is
necessary for us to communicate no matter what borders come up between
us.”
That is all for this edition of UNMIK on AIR programme. Stay tuned for more and thank you for listening….