{"id":2326,"date":"2023-01-30T23:18:15","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T23:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/?p=2326"},"modified":"2023-01-30T23:18:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T23:18:15","slug":"afjete-bashota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/afjete-bashota\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Afjete Bashota"},"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: Let\u2019s start just before the bombings begun. What did you manage totake when leaving the house? Where were you? Who were you with? How old were you?
\nAfjete Bashota: We were at home before the bombings. We got ready; we got some more food suplies at home. Even when the bombings started, we stayed home, because the boys and Nuri did not accept leaving the house. After two or three days they decided to leave the house, Nuri and I went at my sister\u2019s… Drita, my second sister. We decided for the boys to go to Besa, with their wifes and Vesa, who was three and a half years old. After… two days we stayed there. Drita\u2019s house was in front of the hospital. When we woke up in the morning, early Tuesday morning\u2026 on Sunday we went there, on Tuesday morning we noticed people from Velania… a convoy of people who were driven away from their homes. Among them, Skender Berisha and his wife. He is a colleague of Nuri at the faculty and his wife a doctor. I turn to Nuri: look, Skender and Drita, I said, they are going with a suitcase in their hand… they’re taking them uphill to Veternik. I called the boys on the phone and told them\u2026I said: we are coming to pick you up. Really? We are coming to get you. We had a Fiat Uno\u2026imagine, seven people in that car. Anyways, we left? They left the day before, they stopped them in front of \u201cSlovenia Sport\u201d, they took them out of the vehicle, they searched Shk\u00eblzen and Genci with machine guns pointed at their chests. They had the car registered on Belgrade plates, because they worked with some Jews. They were two brothers. They were our family friends and working in a same company. Finally, they had left them pass. So, they also had decided to leave, they came and took us. We left the house keys to Drita and told her to give them to Besa and we continued on our way. We passed through those tunnels on the way to Ka\u00e7anik, without any problem. We reached there safe and sound.
\nInterviewer: Was there no army on the way?
\nAfjete Bashota: Yes, sure there was. When we got there…
\nInterviewer: Didn’t they stop you?
\nAfjete Bashota: … they caught us… no. When we arrived in the evening, it became evening because the convoy stopped, it stopped moving, then we stayed in the vehicle. There were people saying that the soldiers are approaching. Those Serbian soldiers, paramilitaries, all sorts of them. Luckily, a friend of the boys saw Shk\u00eblzen and Genc in the morning and he told them, look, we’re going down with the car, we want to leave the car at the Cement Factory. Come with us and bring your car down there, because we\u2019re going to move from here on foot, we are going to leave the car behind. That pharmacist… no, they are dentists. Anyway, I can’t even recall his name now. Then, the boys got into the vehicle quickly. They drove… we were not far from this Cement Factory. We arrived there, when we arrived, Shk\u00eblzen and Genc told us: mom, dad we have decided to go on foot. Nuri, told me: you too go out and leave. I told him: I will not leave you alone, that is never going to happen. Both of us will stay here, let it be. Let\u2019s hope they will manage to pass and survive. As for us… we will see how we will handle this… this situation. Genc sat on the wall of the factory and began cryimg. Because we didn’t know, we were thinking that we are probably parting forever because he didn’t know where life was taking us. Anyway, they managed to pass through. We stayed for seven days at the border. It was interesting…
\nInterviewer: You stayed with the vehicle?
\nAfjete Bashota: We stayed with the vehicle. After a few days, I saw Musa Limani’s wife as she was walking. Her name is Mybezen. I opened the window and said: where are you going? She said: I’m going to the border. I said: can you walk all the way there, on your feet? Because she was suffering from her legs, they were hurting and stuff. She said: I left Musa in Pristina, because he was in Rambouillet, and continued: my boys are in Tetovo. I was in a car belonging to one of Musa’s friends, but both him and his wife were too difficult… I couldn’t bear it anymore, and so I left them, she added. I told her: Come in here with us, if the odds are on our side to cross the border you will also cross with us. If not, we come back the three of us, what else can we do. So, she then joined us and sat on the back seats. She was blessing me, but that’s how I am. You too Rita…
\nInterviewer: Did you have food, aunt…
\nAfjete Bashota: They brought us food from time to time. Some milk, some bread, too. But otherwise, those women, especially those who were from the village, they would go to all those houses in Elez Han and cook and prepare whatever they could\u2026they took everything they found in the refrigerators. This was all right, but they also took clothes and that was a problem… this had been so… intolerable. And so, one day Mybezane…, told me, come on, let\u2019s go there, let\u2019s go prepare something. I agreed and when I went there, I see them fighting; no, I came earlier, not you, and so on. You know what, I said, shall we stop this? Let me go back. I\u2019d better starve than get in conflict here with all kinds of women. So, we went back. But, opposite us there was someone in a vehicle \u201cFiqa\u201d. He was with his wife and two children. It seemed, it was someone who worked at this… those security agencies, because he was very well informed. From time to time he would enter our vehicle and talk with Nuri. He knew how they killed Rexhai Surroi, he was someone very, very… and he would say: Professor, as much as you can, don’t go out of the vehicle, don\u2019t get too exposed… there is a lot of danger here, this situation we are in. His wife would go to prepare food and she would bring us something too. A piece of bread with something\u2026 Humans manage to live in any way possible. This is so true. After seven days, they turned everybody back.
\nInterviewer: Vehicles?
\nAfjete Bashota: Vehicles, all those that were staying in that area at the Cement Factory, but not those in Bllace. Those with cars staying on the plateau of the factory, thousands of cars were turned back. We luckily had our vehicle with Belgrade registration plates. Nuri was very good at things and he knew how to maneuver. He went to talk with a police officer… a policeman there at the customs, and he said to him: I was on an official trip. And continued: I\u2019ve been caught in this crowd of people. Therefore, he said, I don’t accept turning back because I have nowhere to go. Luckily for us, that policeman gave us an order to pass. Four vehicles passed altogether. The person who was with the vehicle opposite us, the one with \u201cFiqe\u201d, when they came to turn him back, he said no, I don’t have the keys of the car. My son took them, he said, he got out and I cannot drive. He played well; life had taught him that. After a week, four days… four cars, we stayed one full night in front of customs there. There was Hysen Badivuku with his wife, with Pranvera, Violeta Pufja, Hajro Ulcinaku with his wife, us and I don’t know who else, and a woman Rita. A very brave woman. She went out and told to the police: if you force me to turn back, I will kill myself here. She said, I have my children abroad, they are in Macedonia. Therefore, she said, I don’t accept turning back. After four days, the barriers were lifted up, they let us pass, and so we reached that neutral border area. When we went there, the boys tried to find connections as much as they could. Young with phones, because we didn’t have phones. They said: Mom, Dad, do everything you can because there is no way for us to get out. We are who knows how far behind, we have nowhere to go, only if we fly because we have nowhere to go. When we got to that neutral zone, what did I see there in Bllac\u00eb, the horror I saw there… A friend of Salih… oh my God, he was… they came from Bllaca in a line to go to the border. Esat Meka approached and asked me: Afjete, where is Salih? I said: I left Salih in Pristina. He said: oh no… for my brother. He said: better you hadn\u2019t tell me. Anyway, after a while, the son-in-law of the house we were going to was a member of the Parliament of Macedonia, Sefedin Aruni. The boys managed to inform him. So, he came with an officer. He took us, when we arrived at the border he said to Nuri: professor, give me the steering wheel… the steering wheel because you are tired, and I will drive. So, when we arrived at the border, they let us go without a problem. He drove us all the way to Gostivar. When we arrived in Gostivar, his house was in the center of Gostivar, opposite…
\nInterviewer: So, you had found the house beforehand, right? Because other refugees were initially accommodated in the Mosques.
\nAfjete Bashota: No, we had arranged it in advance, because he… both brothers were Nuhi\u2019s students, they had offered us the house. We also had the boys… the boys went before us. They also went\u2026they settled there. They told us, how Mrs. Mejrem, the mother of this student, of these two students, has welcomed them when they arrived. He said, when we woke up in the morning, he said… we took a shower, we got cleaned and… the house had several rooms. The boys had their own separate rooms, we stayed at the big living room with kitchen downstairs. Mrs. Mejreme had her own room; everything was in order. She came out… it was something like an alley and she was waiting for us in the middle of the road. I started crying. I can\u2019t desribe how touched I was. She said come on, welcome, we are so happy that you came, and the boys have become very worried about\u2026because of the waiting time at the border… well, we stayed there for three months. Since April when we left, the bombings started in March, then April, May, June. We were the first to return. We felt at home there. We had money with us, we went out and got supplies. In front of us there was this market place. Often times, she would take the meat and vegetables out of the her fridge, whatever she had, she told me, don’t go out to buy anything, because I have everything that is needed. Neighbors, relatives would invite us for tea and so on…that, not her daughters, no… Nuri was getting invited by his own students. Rita, when they found out that he was in Gostivar, believe me, they would come to bring us food with boxes. They were saying: professor, what you have done for us, we don\u2019t believe we will be able to repay. Had it not been for the University of Pristina, we would have been left without a school, without a degree. They invited us to their homes? At dinners, they tried everything. Nuri, had a school friend from… from high school here in Pristina, Mr. Ilmi. All of Gostivar called him teacher Ilmi. He was very careful. He had a dentist friend. Someone named Selman Tusha, a real gentleman, Rita something immeasurably. He would come to take Nuri and go out with him every day. I would tease him sometimes, I would say to Mr. Ilmi, what is this custom of yours here, only with men, you were going out with men and not taking women with you. And he would say: you, too, madam will also go out. Whenever he came he has never come empty handed. Vesa used to go out in that square in the neighborhood… playing with children. He would bring candies, salty sticks\u2026.whatever he remembered. When one day he was coming, I went out, I heard the doorbell and then I saw him. He said: Mrs. Afiete, these 100 euros are for Vesa. They loved Vesa very much, very-very much. The dentist gave me this, he said, Selman, the friend. I said, there is no need, Mr. Ilmi, because we have money. He said: we didn’t give you this money, this is only for Vesa. I took it with lots of resistance. When I took the money, I told Shk\u00eblzen and Gentian, you know what, take this money, go out and buy the girl whatever she needs. The weather improved, we had only winter\/thicker clothes… so, they went out and bought everything she needed with that money. So, we’ve really been there somewhat… plus this guy from America mailed us a package. Nuri got a complete set of clothes, me as well, daughters-in-law, the children, Vesa everyone got clothes. I have kept Nuri\u2019s clothes to this day. I gave away many Nuri’s clothes, but I kept those because they were so good, something extraordinary.
\nInterviewer: Do you remember, how did you decide to come back when the war ended?
\nAfjete Bashota: The decision? In a moment\u2026 When we saw that the bursts of rifle fire started around the neighborhoods, we went into the basement. In an alley where we have the oil boiler, we went there and we all hid for fear that they were breaking into our house.
\nInterviewer: Oh, no, I meant from Gostivar to return to Kosovo?
\nAfjete Bashota: Nuri and I returned from Gostivar earlier. Immediately after doing that\u2026 of Kumanova, done on nine… The Kumanova Agreement of 9 June. We decided to go back by bus. We left the car to them. Then, after a couple of weeks, I don’t know exactly, a week or two, maybe ten days, they returned from there with their wives. Merita was pregnant with Arian. I was telling to Ms. Mejreme: imagine, if she gives birth here, the daughter-in-law is going to deliver here. She started… she gave birth in September. Then she would reply: so what if she gives birth here? We will do all what is needed here, including the baby shower… yes, but I was saying\u2026. You know, Rita, the wedding parties there are organized with 1,000 guests. Something not normal, so to speak. Nuri and I returned. Fortunately, we found the house in a good shape, just as when we left. Besa and Merita’s mother went to our house every second or third day and took whatever food they needed. We told them, during the time we were in Gostivar, Besa’s son, Mustafa, had an office in Dardania, over there, around Bill Clinton, I don’t know exactly, maybe in Ulpiana… He was constantly going there and informing us by phone. Many people, all those who needed went there, since the phone came out from his office. And with internet\u2026with internet, internet, because they gave the boys a… \u201check\u201d, a computer. We received news through Mustafa. For everything.
\nInterviewer: Did you also communicate with the sisters and brother you left here?
\nAfjete Bashota: Yes, yes. The brother in the apartment, surrounded by parliament… paramilitaries and…at least one… now I’ll tell you who… he came, he said, we begged Salih to give us the girl… I met him in Gostivar, he said, he didn’t let her go. He said no, let the girl stay with us. And so, she\u2026what… now I don’t remember. Someone close to Salih, someone that worked together and so on. So, they were under a serious danger. Salih did not leave the house for 40 days. He was kind of petrified. While Besa she was stronger, more … Drita grew stronger, because she used to be much more cowardly. Checking the girl’s house\u2026then the other one, he stayed at Besa’s.
\nInterviewer: You didn’t have any damage? Neither at home, nor…?
\nAfjete Bashota: No, luckily not. Luckily not. though they had tried to. It could be seen from the footprints as they kicked the door. But Nuri had put some wooden posts on the door, including also on both sides and on that small door below towards the yard and here. It could be visible that they had kicked them. They tried to open but couldn\u2019t. Otherwise, luckily, we had the blinds completely closed. So, we were lucky in a way, even though there were only few houses in our neighborhood that had been damaged, very few, two or three houses were burned down, the others were completely the same as when we left them. Telling to one another… talking among themselves, deciding which house will belong to who …
\nInterviewer: So, they kept them safe?
\nAfjete Bashota: Yes, yes. Further down from us were the houses of Orana\u2019s, the Behluli and Amir Agani, they were more damaged. Not completely burned, but very much destroyed, demolished. While up here in our neighborhood, no.
\nInterviewer: Thank you very much!
\nAfjete Bashota: Also. Experiences…[\/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: Let\u2019s start just before the bombings begun. What did you manage totake when leaving the house? Where were you? Who were you with? How old were you? Afjete Bashota: We were at home before the bombings. We got ready; we got some more food suplies at home. Even when the bombings started, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1002,"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\/2326"}],"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=2326"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2333,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2326\/revisions\/2333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}