Kosovo will become a museum of women and men violated during the war

A new initiative was published on Thursday. It comes from the former president of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga. Even in the period when she served as the head of the country, even after that, she is the person who dealt the most with the category of the abused and the abused in the last war. It has made public a unique initiative: the Museum for abused women and men in Kosovo. "Together with the German ambassador in Kosovo, Mr. Rohde, we signed today in the offices of the 'Jahjaga' foundation the cooperation agreement for the opening of the first museum for abused women and men in Kosovo", she announced.

In post-war Kosovo, there have been many initiatives to build and establish museums related to the war. A small number of them have been concretized. A new initiative was published on Thursday. It comes from the former president of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga. Even in the period when she served as the head of the country, even after that, she is the person who dealt the most with the category of the abused and the abused in the last war. It has made public a unique initiative: the Museum for Abused Women and Men in Kosovo. 

For this, former president Atifete Jahjaga, who leads the "Jahjaga" foundation, is in cooperation with the German Embassy in Kosovo.

"Together with the German ambassador in Kosovo, Mr. Rohde, we signed today in the offices of the 'Jahjaga' foundation the cooperation agreement for the opening of the first museum for abused women and men in Kosovo", she announced.

According to what Jahjaga has announced, the issue of survivors of sexual violence during the last war in Kosovo is one of the most serious wounds of the entire country, "therefore our main goal is to increase the general awareness of the people and fight stigma which surrounds the survivors".

"Just as I promised them that I will not leave any stone unturned until justice is served, I promise you that I will always be by their side. There is no sustainable peace without justice for the survivors of sexual violence in Kosovo", she said, among other things, after signing the agreement with the German ambassador to Kosovo, Joern Rohde. Jahjaga has not disclosed other details regarding this project. 

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Museums of war, peace, genocide are a long-standing topic in post-war Kosovo. The "War Museum in Pristina" also appears in the budget plans of the Ministry of Culture. According to the Law on this year's budget appropriations, 500 thousand euros have been calculated for this project only for this year. But it has remained just a goal, like many other initiatives of MKRS. 

In 2019, another initiative was taken by the then Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Kadri Veseli. He had started some kind of campaign for what he called a genocide museum. 

Even in May of that year, Veseli together with the then Minister of Culture, Kujtim Gashi, and the former leaders of the Kosovo Privatization Agency had visited the former Tjegulloren in Pristina as the space where this museum would take place. 

"I believe and hope that with the support of all the deputies, we will also start the construction of the genocide museum. The museum of the Serbian genocide on the citizens of Kosovo will be proposed to be in this place, in the former Tjegulloren", he said. 

The model for the genocide museum, according to him, would be the Holocaust museum "Yad Vashem" in Israel and "The Simon Wiesenthal Center", an organization that also deals with the research and documentation of the Holocaust. 

In March of that year, the Government of Kosovo allocated 100 euros to support the initial phase of the realization of the project of the commemorative center for the genocide against the Albanians, "Bllaca 1999". The decision of the beginning of March for the allocation of funds has completed the one of February 12, through which the proposal for the establishment of the center was approved. The funds were separated from the category of reserve expenses. The proposal was made by the Institute of Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Albanians based in Skopje and by the Association for the Return of Albanians Displaced from their Lands, based in Pristina. The association was led by Jahja Lluka, at the same time an adviser to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj. 

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"Bllaca 1999" is a memorial center, the foundation stone of which was laid in April of that year. According to the proponents, the facility would be erected in the part of Kosovo, very close to Bllaca, while the 100 thousand euros of the Government were allocated only for the initial phase, where several train wagons were sent there in memory of the deportation of Albanians to Macedonia in 1999. The wagons in the meantime, they have been damaged several times, so that it is now impossible to enter them. The project has remained as it was in the initial phase. 

While in 2019, according to Vesel, the 9.75-hectare area of ​​the former Tjegullore was an adequate place for a genocide museum, now the Municipality has decided to have a multifunctional center there. 

In March of this year, the Massacre Museum was opened in the village of Krushë e Madhe in Rahovec.

There are many exhibits of the civilians killed along with the stories behind them in the Museum. There are also those of families that have been completely extinguished. The inaugurated museum is a brutalist style building, which suits the whole concept. It is curated by professors of the University of Pristina in cooperation with the residents. The investment of the Municipality of Rahovec is undoubtedly one of the most valuable that this institution has made in relation to the memory of those who were killed by the Serbian forces only because they were Albanians. The narrative within the concrete blocks begins with Kruša e Madhe as a village of working people. A brief history unfolds of the days when the large settlement was teeming with young people who worked and studied, even though under apartheid measures from Serbia. Visitors then enter the terrifying days of March 25, 26 and 27. The village counts 220 civilians killed. More than 100 of them burned in two crematoriums. Among them are 7 children and five women. A pregnant one. When 21 martyrs are added to this number, Krusha e Madhe counts 241 people killed in the last war. Material damage affects millions. It is one of the most comprehensive museums in Kosovo. 

As one of the most meaningful premises in the country for the exposition of the massacre that the village by the Drini Bardhë had suffered at the end of March 1999, the Museum has been transformed into a space that welcomes quite a few visitors. While in April, by the decision of the Municipal Assembly of Rahovec, it received the status of a Museum, the goal remains the employment of regular staff.

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Currently, one person is employed in this museum with a temporary contract. The head of the village, Selami Hoti, comes to his aid on a voluntary basis. His phone number is on the Museum's social media page.

Inside the Museum, the stories of more than 200 survivors of the village on the banks of the White Drin have a place. They are the descriptions of family members about the days when they lost their loved ones. Each is more unaffordable than the other. They were collected during the years 2021 and 2022 by students under the mentorship of professors of the Department of Anthropology within the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Pristina. In addition to the video interviews, the confessions have been published in ten volumes under the title "Memory of Kosovo: Narratives of the Survivors of the Great Krusha Massacre", a project launched by the United States Embassy in Kosovo after a visit by former ambassador Philip Kosnett together with his wife they had done in Krushë e Madhe. With the support of the Ministry of Culture, the project was carried out by the National Library of Kosovo and the Department of Anthropology. The volumes were inaugurated in BKK, a day before the inauguration of the Museum.