{"id":1851,"date":"2023-01-30T20:51:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T20:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/?p=1851"},"modified":"2023-01-30T20:51:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T20:51:34","slug":"vjeshtore-zeqiri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/vjeshtore-zeqiri\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Vjeshtore Zeqiri"},"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]The interviewer:\u00a0Once more…<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0I was in Drenica, at my father\u2019s uncle’s when the war started. I stayed there for 2 months. Then my father came to pick me up. He came by tractor but when then on the way back we were on foot. It took him a while. I was too little. I had really missed my family and when I was walking on the way home I saw some corn \u2013 I would say hi to the corn pretending it was my family; I\u2019d go like hello mom, hello grandmother, hello grandfather, and I was hugging all of them, all my uncles and other family members. When I got home, only my grandparents and my uncle were there waiting for me. The other had gone to my aunt\u2019s in Gracka. From there we went by train, I guess it was in Rubovc \u2013 the train that took you to Macedonia. We went to Stankovec. We stayed there quite a lot. We then went to Norway. While in Stankovec we stayed in a tent and the American militaries brought us food and things. We would take showers with those buckets where we had to boil the water and take showers outside.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0The children?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, only the children because we didn\u2019t have a place because there were only some tents. They would boil the water, would start a fire with whatever they found in the woods. From there we went to Norway. My grandparents and all my family went there but my father \u2013 he was in Kosovo. We stayed there for 4 months and then my grandfather decided to return because we didn\u2019t know anything about my father during those 4 months; we didn\u2019t know if he was alive or not. We returned to Kosovo, but they gave us passports that were valid for a year; they asked us to stay there and not return. They really tried to convince us so they gave us valid documentation to go back for a year. After we returned they then prepared my father\u2019s documentation \u2013 we justified it like his daughters couldn\u2019t go back there without their father. Then we got there back. When we went to school there they put us in a class with different nationalities, but not Norwegians, because we had to learn the language. There were different nationalities like Indians, Africans, Montenegrins and so on. They put us in the class with Norwegians after 3 months. They did this right after we learned the language.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Did you learn the language for 3 months?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, we learned the language within 3 months.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Really?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes. And… oh, they put our story in a newspaper. I still have that newspaper.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Really?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, they put our story in the newspaper since we had learned the language for a short period of time and… I don\u2019t remember exactly how they called that class. So, yeah, there was a newspaper because we also had good behavior and that it all was because we arrived there after war trauma; it was about how the children managed to learn the language for a short time and learn about their culture \u2013 it was me, Lendita, and Floranda \u2013 that thing hadn\u2019t happened before, for someone to learn the language within 3 months. So they put us in a newspaper.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0The three of you?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, the Norwegians did all that. I have that newspaper at home.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0You should tell Rita, maybe she\u2019ll use it.<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Okay. And then, of course, we had to be in a class with the Norwegians. We would go to church every Sunday. They taught us about religion and Christianity…<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Who took you there? The school?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0No, we had to go to church… I had school till 12 p.m. and after 12… it was like a class when we had to do our homework about all the things we learned that day, I don\u2019t how to explain it. We had to stay there for 3 hours. We did our homework; we also had to cook and practice stuff after school. And then the woman there and another one… I don\u2019t know the Muslims call them the Imam… they would pick up all the children not only us Albanians but everyone there to learn about their culture. They gave us carrots and cabbage. This wasn\u2019t obligatory but I remember we went there on Sunday; on Friday and Sunday \u2013 we went to church on Sunday and Friday.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Did your father know you were going to church?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Of course.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0He didn\u2019t say a thing?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0No. The church was near where we lived. Most probably they wanted to teach children more about their religion. But, we didn\u2019t know about it back then, I was young, 6 or 7 years old and I don\u2019t remember what exactly was their intention. But, now I know.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Did they talk about the war in Kosovo? And, did you talk about the war?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, but they didn\u2019t know much about Kosovo they would refer to us more like Albanians, like from Albania.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Did you, the children, talk about the war in Kosovo with each other?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes… when we went there we were engaged in different activities non-stop and they didn\u2019t let us think about it \u2013 this is about the second time we got there… Because on the first time we didn\u2019t go to school at all; we returned after a month or something like that. Then, we went to school the second time we got there. We talked about the war when we were home, and the first time we went there the whole building had inhabitants that came from the war and that was the main topic. Everyone thought about their family in Kosovo. Everyone had someone back home. But, the second time we went there then we were engaged in different activities non-stop and it was…<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0To take your mind off of it…<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes. We had activities from 7 a.m. and I was at school till 12 p.m. Then after school I stayed to do my homework till 4 or 5… I don\u2019t know how to explain this in Albanian.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0You said you went there without your father the first time, right?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, without him. Only my father was in Kosovo. He stayed there to guard the houses. My grandparents, my aunt, my uncle, and my whole family went there. And, you know my aunt…<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Which one of your uncles was there?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Risa\u2019s father. He was there with us because the others were in Germany. He was single, one of my aunts was in Germany, and another aunt here had children. I remember in Stankovec I cried a lot because they came to ask us where did we want to go. We told them we wanted to go to Germany or Switzerland because my aunt\u2019s husband was in Switzerland and my uncles were in Germany. While my uncle was in Germany, Hashim, Endrita\u2019s father, came to Stankovec to visit us. He came to Macedonia because his documentation was all okay and he could travel. We wanted to go there but they gave us Norway as an option. My aunt\u2019s alternative was Sweden so she was the first to go there. When we had to say goodbye I didn\u2019t want to let her go, I was dragging her. Lendita had stayed with my aunt, and she got scalded when we were in Stankovec.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Why?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0She was having soup or while they were preparing it because you didn\u2019t have the conditions to do it through a gas heater \u2013 6 or 7 tents would use one gas heater. No, it wasn\u2019t a gas heater, in fact, it was while starting a fire. They had put a pot there and so Lendita got scalded. She had a hard time.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Were there any doctors?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes. Yes, but, it was like up the hills like in the mountains. But we had food because they brought a lot of tinned food from Macedonia.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0When you went there the second time did your grandparents come too?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0No, they stayed in Kosovo. Everyone stayed here only my close family got back there.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0The first time you went there could they adapt there? Were they worried?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Us?<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0No, your grandparents.<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Well, that was the reason we returned. My grandfather didn\u2019t want to stay there at all. Plus, we didn\u2019t know if my father was alive. Also, the same thing was about my cousin, in fact, my father and my cousin \u2013 his nephew. He couldn\u2019t accept that. That\u2019s why we returned. We stayed there for 4 months. And then, the second time… We first got a negative answer from Norway so we went to Sweden. We lived in Norway for another 6 months and again we got a negative answer. We stayed in Norway for a couple more days and then returned back home. But, we didn\u2019t like it there at first \u2013 us, the children, at all.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0And on the second time?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0At all. Yes, we liked it the second time because the first time we were with everyone else. I guess you understood what I said. I also remember when we travelled from Skopje to Norway. From when we got in the car from home till we arrived there we were crying. We didn\u2019t want to go there and we didn\u2019t want to leave our grandparents alone. I kind of wasn\u2019t emotionally stable, it wasn\u2019t because of the war but because we had a special connection with the family. When they would refuse our request… which happened 3 times… if the answer would be negative twice, it was possible to get a positive answer on the third time. We were praying to get a negative answer because we wanted to come back to Kosovo. When we went to Sweden from Norway we were praying they\u2019d catch us, because we passed the border illegally. We really wanted to come back to Kosovo.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Although it was still the war?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0No, this is after the war.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Ah, so this was the third time?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0We returned in 2003. It wasn\u2019t a war but we wanted to come back. When we returned, as soon as I landed at the airport, I asked them why did you say it has gotten better in Kosovo because the roads were not fixed. This was the first thing I said. I didn\u2019t know one of my uncles, Jehona\u2019s father. I didn\u2019t know him at all. I got to know him after we returned from Norway. I first thought he was Hashim, my other uncle, because he\u2019d lived in Germany for a long time. When he returned we were in Norway. I didn\u2019t get to meet him. But, when we returned here I told them why would they tell me the war was over in Kosovo because it didn\u2019t seem over. They tried to tempt me by taking me to the supermarket and they bought me ice cream and other snacks. But, I still told them it looked like we were at war. The roads were not fixed, for real. When we got home, we didn\u2019t have quite good conditions, and the yard was empty. We returned in April…<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0In 2003…<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, I don\u2019t remember exactly but I know I told them why did they tell me the war was over because Kosovo didn\u2019t get any better. Because that\u2019s what they said back then, let\u2019s return because it got all better in Kosovo. And that\u2019s what I told them.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Did you see the difference between the schools?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Of course. I didn\u2019t like it here then. First of all, I hardly got accepted into school here. Also, my friends there hardly accepted me in Kosovo, except Egzona. I could notice how the children would ask for material stuff for me to stay with them. They made me go buy things at the supermarket. For example, it was Shen Gjergj and Egzona told me in order to go with them, to the hills, I had to roast her seeds and give them to her.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0They thought you were rich because you returned from Norway.<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, that\u2019s what everyone thought. The teachers would call me Norwegian girl. The teachers from the 5th grade to the 9th grade. They called me the Norwegian girl. The children at school made me buy them chocolates or anything to stay with them. I always mention this story to Egzona that she made me roast seeds to go up the hills with her.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0I think this is enough…<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0I think I should tell the first part of the story once more because I messed it up.<\/p>\n

The interviewer:\u00a0Can you tell us once more a bit more clearly about the beginning of the war? Why were you at your father\u2019s uncle’s?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0I was at my father\u2019s uncles… we stayed there a lot because anytime my grandmother would go there we went, too \u2013 we had a nice connection. We stayed there for a month. So, when the war started, as they called it the offensive, I had gone there to stay as usual but then the war got me there. They couldn\u2019t leave because the war started earlier in Drenica so there wasn\u2019t a way to travel, the roads were all blocked. They once wanted to move to the mountains but they didn\u2019t because of me. I remember they worried about me. I told them it\u2019s fine because I am going to become a lion and… no I think I said a bear and that I would hide after the trees and shout, and then the Serbians would leave. That\u2019s what I always said and they always remind me of this story. I told them I\u2019d go whenever they\u2019d go. Then, my father came to pick me up with a tractor. He left the tractor at some place because we couldn\u2019t return by it, we had to walk underhand through the woods. It was the actual war. We were on foot. He came by tractor but I don\u2019t where he\u2019d left it…
\nThe interviewer:\u00a0It was only you and your father?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, just the two of us. I remember every time we got tired he got me in his arms… you know… when we arrived home my family had gone to Gracka with the exception of my grandparents. They were waiting for me. I will never forget how they were hidden… We had a two-floor house and they hid on the roof. Because the Serbians… you know in front of my house there were the tanks, they were already in Poturovc. They had burnt down the mill. They were waiting for me and they got hid on the roof. On the way home, since I had missed my family so much \u2013 we walked through the meadow and I was talking to nature by the names of my family members. As soon as I got inside the yard I started looking for them. I then went up to the roof and saw them waiting for me. Then, by car, we went to my aunt\u2019s. Then, from there, by train, we went to Stankovec. I will never forget the crowd on the train. My grandmother almost got left behind. Serbians let people get on the train as much as they could. Some of them had left their family members behind and some of other had gotten on the train. My grandmother almost got left behind but we got her through the windows because there was no way you got to get on the train through the door. It was so crowded for me and Gazment had to stay where they put the bags, the luggage. You didn\u2019t have a place to stay. I remember a boy who was alone because his family couldn\u2019t get on the train. The train wouldn\u2019t stop. Serbians were on the train. He asked for the train to stop but that wasn\u2019t possible. He cried a lot because he was alone.
\nThe interviewer:\u00a0Was he young?<\/p>\n

Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0Yes, perhaps 18 or 19 years old. I remember him because me and Gazi were in front of him. He cried a lot and couldn\u2019t stop crying because he was alone.[\/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]The interviewer:\u00a0Once more… Vjeshtore Zeqiri:\u00a0I was in Drenica, at my father\u2019s uncle’s when the war started. I stayed there for 2 months. Then my father came to pick me up. He came by tractor but when then on the way back we were on foot. It took him a while. I was too little. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851"}],"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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1851"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1856,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions\/1856"}],"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=1851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}