Interviewer: Can you introduce yourself to us and tell us something more about yourself?

Interviewee: Well, my name is Žarko. I was born in the village of Vitakovo, in a common house. There were a lot of people then and children then, both in the village and in the house and so on. We grew up on cattle. We collected moss, rose hips, we did all sorts of things. We finished school in Buba, the local community of Brnjak was there until the lake was accumulated with the dam. Then we were divided as Banja Local Community. So, later on, there was a Banja Local Community, so we were far away. A rural life was little hard, so on. Mostly, people here lived from cattle breeding then, and so on.

Interviewer: Good. What’s your year of birth?

Interviewee: Fifty-second. 11/4/52.

Interviewer: Until what year did you live in the village of Vitakovo?

Interviewee: Well I lived by gods until… close to 82.… I lived privately occasionally, but I had to travel back home for the weekend. We cultivated the land up in my village and so on, as far as I recall.

Interviewer: At that time, when you moved and also during the war, did you work somewhere?

Interviewee: Well, I worked. I worked even before the war. I have been employed since 73.

Interviewer: Mhm.

Interviewee: I was in Vjedo for 3 years here in Pristina, and then in Pirotehnica on Dam I worked here for two years, and then I moved to Trepca, in 78, and I stayed there, worked there, and retired there after the war in year 2000.

Interviewer: Good. And do you remember that period from Trepca, then you worked together with Albanians before the war?

Interviewee: Well, I remember. To tell you the truth, those relations between Serbs and Albanians were not so noticeable, although the policy was to get the people included, I mentioned Dam there. Even then, Zenta worked to evict the Serb population from that lake, that… 25 kilometers… that, mostly Serbs lived in those countries of Lukinje that were affected and so on. Well, it turned out that… democracies started a little, occasionally it was noticed, but social relations were collectively solid.

Interviewer: There was no problem?

Interviewee: There was no problem. We hung out, we joked, we exchanged opinions, weddings, celebrations, that’s how it is, engagements, that’s basically everything, jokes and staying together including long conversations and so on.

Interviewer: Mhm. Some nice time?!

Interviewee: Mostly, I worked with the Shiptars, Albanians, how to say, already then there were fewer Serbs then, still… until the nineties, then after something they… went with their… what was… what… politicians… then they abandoned Trepca. I say, we have never felt hatred and any kind of abuse towards each other and so on.

Interviewer: Mhm, yes, yes.

Interviewee: And later when they would meet, they would greet each other, ask each other and so on. We never had anything – no inconvenience.

Interviewer: Good. Where did you and your family live when the war started?

Interviewee: Well, we lived in Jasenovik, Donji Jasenovik.

Interviewer: It is the municipality of Zubin Potok.

Interviewee: Eh .. I was employed but also I was released from military exercise. I was not on the front line, I went to practice. I was actively working. And the wife and children went to the village for a while, that’s how it was. One week, two weeks, how long it lasted, I don’t know.

Interviewer: It’s for security, isn’t it, due to their safety??

Interviewee: For the sake of safety, they were next to the road, they were following the refugees from Metohija, they were passing by, it looked scary at that time. We moved from that place because of the children, so as not to see everything and anything .

Interviewer: Sure. Were there any troubles and ugly scenes that happened near Jasenovik on Zubin Potok?

Interviewee: Well, here in Jasenovik, not really, no, I don’t believe, really not much happened. Maybe there little bit in Zupče below, and there was some brawls and there was something already, here almost nothing. Here, people and refugees were passing by… passing mostly, the most unpleasant thing for me was to follow and listen to lines and tractors and vehicles and trucks and…

Interviewer: Was it difficult for you to be separated from your family in those moments when they were in the village?

Interviewee: Well, I occasionally went home. I wen, spend the night and gone to work there and so on. I haven’t been this… for many days… that… for two or three days, so I go, go uphill and stop by, be at home for the weekend, in the village and so on.

Interviewer: Aha.

Interviewee: Sometimes we were left without electricity, and that’s how it was. Then the bombing, then the disaster, it was a catastrophe, what are you going to do, it was kept like that.

Interviewer: And was it possible to support yourself financially then, to feed your families?

Interviewee: Well, it lasted here and there, as far as I know, that… inflation was… of some kind… it’s hard to endure but it lasted somehow, and so on. What would say days like a nightmare.

Interviewer: Has anyone from your immediate family been on the battlefield or God forbid killed, or something like that?

Interviewee: Well, God forbid that someone from the family would be killed. On the side of my wie, there is a cousin, and someone, from the vicinity of the village. My cousin was on the battlefield, some neighbors, and so on. There, towards Gradica, down to Jakovica, where I already am, I don’t know either.

Interviewer: Mhm, mhm. And this… for the end to ask you. When you think about the war now, what are your memories?

Interviewee: Well, let me tell you, the memories are horrible. These were difficult actions. But I can’t hate someone from the Albanians again, to say that they are to blame for that. That’s what politics wanted, and that’s right, it’s not just political hair, but there are countries that participated and it was done. And after the war and tomorrow and so on – we are with them – who we knew and talked to, they always asked the household thing, and about the family and about this and that, and about everything.