{"id":1091,"date":"2021-01-19T10:50:20","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T10:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/?p=1091"},"modified":"2021-08-19T10:15:04","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T10:15:04","slug":"fitnete-dauti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/fitnete-dauti\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Fitnete Dauti"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Interviewer: Medin\u00eb Dauti<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Interviewee: Fitnete Dauti<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Acronyms: MD= Medin\u00eb Dauti, FD= Fitnete Dauti<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MD: Can you tell me how you remember it before, before the war started?<\/p>\n

FD: Yes, we were here in the new house, meaning it was not long since we moved to the new house. I was pregnant with Medina, and the war started, and the thing was, where to go now, where to shelter, so we decided to go to the Sunoblar village. When we got there, there was not much space so we went to the Pogragje village to the paternal aunt of Medina, and from there, we all went to our son in law\u2019s maternal uncle in Ternovc village, we stayed there for 2 and a half months, all of us, that is, until the end of the war here in Kosovo.<\/p>\n

MD: How was it, were there people, what was the situation in those places where you hid?<\/p>\n

FD: In Pogragje, there were many people taking refuge, some went to Macedonia, but we went to Ternovc, there was no one there, there was a family somewhere, but they were not so close. It was not so bad, we were not afraid, but for a while, i.e. after a while, the weather changed, it rained, it got cold and we were told to go to the mountains, with all that is inside, with children, with young people, not the elderly. Also, we left the elders, we took the children and as I told you I had washed the children’s sneakers, and I had nowhere to dry them because I had just washed them, and then I took them, I put on a pair of socks, and on top of the socks I put nylon bags and the socks again and that\u2019s how we went out, and in that place, we were all surrounded by military.<\/p>\n

MD: And who gave you the news? Has anyone been on guard?<\/p>\n

FD: No, that is, as the leaders of the neighbourhood, they came and told us and then we went out and they took us, we were going where they were telling us to go, it seemed they were not following us, that is, we only saw them in the hills, sheltered like this, and aiming\u00a0 the weapons they had, we stayed for an hour and a half, and then they told us to go back.<\/p>\n

MD: How was it, what atmosphere prevailed during that time?<\/p>\n

FD: There was no explanation as to why they took us out, there were words like what people were saying, that is, to see how many people there are, how many refugees there are and how much population is in there, for that, not something else.<\/p>\n

MD: Was there fear, i.e. how did the people who were together react?<\/p>\n

FD: There was fear, what is happening, where we are going, what they want to do with us, there was a little fear, but my children’s feet were more important to me, seeing them like that. I did not know anything else. I simply did not see them, in fact I saw them, but I did not care, my children were more important for me, not to catch a cold or something like that.<\/p>\n

MD: Well, how did it go on then? After you went out?<\/p>\n

FD: That was it, i.e. we did not have any problems, only that we had to turn off the lights at night in every house, so that it would not be seen that there is light, that someone is living there, that there are residents. This was everywhere, not only for us that we were refugees, but it was for everyone.<\/p>\n

MD: How was it to turn off the lights?<\/p>\n

FD: The lights of the whole house should be off, i.e. nothing should be seen, e.g. we kept a light in the room on, but isolated the windows so that it could not be seen from outside.<\/p>\n

MD: How did you insulate the windows?<\/p>\n

FD: With thick curtains like this, there was nothing, it was an old house where we stayed, it was a shelter.<\/p>\n

MD: How many people did you sleep like this when you were sheltered in those houses?<\/p>\n

FD: We were 2 families who slept there, Medina’s aunt with her husband and children, the old woman, they had 4 children, also husband and wife 6, old woman 7, and I with both children, Medina was not born yet, I and Bejta, i.e. …. (counts 6-8-10<\/em>) …. 10 people.<\/p>\n

MD: In one room?<\/p>\n

FD: In one room. We slept in one room one night, then the men went somewhere else, in the neighbourhood, they stayed there, then we women and children remained to sleep in there.<\/p>\n

MD: Aha.<\/p>\n

FD: Yes, 2 and a half months.<\/p>\n

MD: Did you had to cross the border?<\/p>\n

FD: Yes, there was a border but they did not stop us, we did not have a problem, “we are going to my uncle’s”, that is the groom said, “we are going to my uncle”, then they did not stop us.<\/p>\n

MD: Where did you go, to what place?<\/p>\n

FD: To T\u00ebrnovc.<\/p>\n

MD: To T\u00ebrnovc?<\/p>\n

FD: I had my family in Budrik, but I did not hear anything if they were dead or alive, at all, they also burned down their house and they had suffered a lot of abuse. They took them and put the whole village on tractors and sent them to C\u00ebrnica road, there they planned to shoot all of them, all of them in order, the whole army and police surrounded them. But, for their good luck, the weather had changed, it spontaneously started, the lightning and thunderstorms and they scattered them and from there they then went to Macedonia, some of them, and some others stayed at a place called ” the Falcons”, that’s how they called that place in the village, this place was near my village, Budrika. I had a brother, the youngest one, he was 16 years old, I took him with me, but I did not know how to be afraid of the war. I was not afraid at all, because I wanted to stay at home, not to leave the house at all, i.e. so much that I did not believe that something was happening to us. And, when I remember that I left my brother in the war here, the army had entered, not the army, they were the civilians, so Serbs, from the surrounding area here, were dressed, disguised, and had killed one of our neighbours, and my mother-in-law and others, when they saw that they had killed him, my mother-in-law took my brother and a cousin and they started to come to the mountains, through the mountains and the police caught them. The army started killing them, my brother hid, they thought they had killed my father-in-law and that neighbour of ours, they thought my brother too, and it was a mess, the whole village was looking for them and saved him on that occasion, and when he came, he had taken a pair of sneakers for me, my brother, to bring the sneakers to me- he said to me ” there you go sister, I brought you the sneakers” and I told him ” as you have managed to save yourself, why did you bring me the sneakers\u2019?” – and then I started to cry a lot, my God.\u00a0 It was a horror. These stories, the children’s feet and my brother hurt a lot. We stayed for 2 and a half months. I didn\u2019t like staying there at all, I wanted to go home, we came back once actually, we came back by car.<\/p>\n

MD: You did?<\/p>\n

FD: Yes, I convinced my husband because the elderly had come already and were staying here in the neighbourhood, I somehow convinced my husband and we came. When we came, we were sitting, Bejta said ” many armed police are coming” and Adis and Sabina were sitting in a corner, bent, they had put their hands like this, and were horrified. I said to myself why did I bring the children here because they were scared, I don’t know why, and we decided to leave, got in the car and we came back where we were before.<\/p>\n

MD: Aha.<\/p>\n

FD: I felt sorry for my children because they were scared.<\/p>\n

MD: And, how long before you came back?<\/p>\n

FD: Two and a half months have passed, I could not wait, I was looking for the news when we are going to be free, I could barely stay there, I was worried for my family, for my sister, I did not know where she was, she had gone to Bllace. Then, a neighbour of our son in law told me one day \u201cFitnete, the war is over, NATO has entered\u201d, o my God I was so happy, I went nuts with joy, then, we got into our car and came back home. When we arrived, my God, what to see, everything was burned down, our stuff was scattered out in the street, couches were removed completely. There was nothing that was left undone by them, they had teared down the walls, they had taken the goods, the couches, everything, our things were at the neighbours, their things were brought to us. We stayed there. I still knew nothing about my family, when someone told me, I can’t remember who exactly told me, that my family had gone to Macedonia, and also that they were planning to go abroad. I was saying to myself “how can my mother do this to me? to turn her back on me when I had suffered so much for them”? But it turned out to be fake news. Then she came to visit us, asked us if we were all alright? If we were all safe? And I asked her if they were all okay, my mother started to cry, she said we are all okay, except that they had killed Vedat. Vedat was young, he was just 18.\u00a0 What a terrible thing, we cried a lot.\u00a0 For a week his father, my aunt’s husband had carried him on his back so he would not be buried anywhere just like that. He was killed by a single bullet, they were shooting at someone else, and the bullet just went by that person and hit Vedat by killing him on the spot.<\/p>\n

MD: For an entire week?<\/p>\n

FD: For a week his father carried him on his back, until it was over so they could bury him properly, but still he was buried up in the mountains somewhere, and after the war ended, he was re-buried and taken to the cemetery.<\/p>\n

MD: What connection did you have with him? What was he to you?<\/p>\n

FD: He was the son of my maternal aunt. After the war ended, I came to understand this matter. I heard from people that his father had sent him with the cows, because they had cows, and I said ” why he didn’t go himself but sent a young boy” I was stressed and emotional and I was saying ” instead of him dying, a young man had to die”. My mother-in law was looking at me and she said that it is God who decides who he will take, what are you talking about, then, I stopped and said that I know {sighing}.<\/p>\n

MD: Was it difficult to adapt after the war?<\/p>\n

FD: Yes, it seemed to me a completely different life, oh God, it seemed to me as if the whole world had changed, it was no longer that life as it was, but, as my cousin had died, he was the same generation as my brother, for a long time nothing looked good to me. And indeed, everything changed, people changed and no longer was as it was before. Helicopters were passing by, and I used to look up and say ” oh Vedat, where are you now:”, I was very sad. They left nothing for us, they had written the most terrible things on the walls, them, the Serbs, dirty words, stupid things all over the walls, they had scraped the walls. I was concerned how to erase and remove them, because it was embarrassing. I didn\u2019t know where to start, there was nothing you could see, they had taken all the valuable things, they left nothing. I didn’t know what to do first, shall a fix the beds to sleep, should I deal with the kitchen where we have to eat. I have no idea how I managed those days, only God knows. When I remember those days, I say to myself “how was I able to cope and fix things, the bed for the elderly, the bed for children\u201d, I had no place to wash things, so for a while we were not able to function properly.<\/p>\n

MD: And now how do you think the war period affected you?<\/p>\n

FD:\u00a0 It has not affected me terribly, only the death of my cousin, my aunt’s son, has affected me a great deal. I could not come to my senses for a long time. Then, I got pregnant with Medina, had a great willpower, I worked hard and I was very happy. My mother-in-law said to me that \u201cit is going to be a girl again\u201d, and it was true, I never went to check the gender, I don\u2019t know why. And when the baby was born, I was so happy because Sabina had a sister now, they were two sisters now and I was extremely happy. I did not even go to the hospital and gave birth to my daughter at home, I could hardly wait and I was very happy. I was fine.<\/p>\n

MD: Thank you.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Interviewer: Medin\u00eb Dauti   Interviewee: Fitnete Dauti   Acronyms: MD= Medin\u00eb Dauti, FD= Fitnete Dauti   MD: Can you tell me how you remember it before, before the war started? FD: Yes, we were here in the new house, meaning it was not long since we moved to the new house. I was pregnant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1091"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1091"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1396,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1091\/revisions\/1396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}