Page 696 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

From the 13th to the 20th century
SeRBS FLeeiNG KOSOVO
Manojlo Čemerikić, vicar in Orahovac, to the Rector
of the Theology Seminary in Prizren
Prizren, May 27th/June 9th, 1906
Most Reverend archimandrite,
Since the third day of easter this year, when albanians
killed two sons of Petko Dedić, people are very agitated and want to move away from Orahovac. 30 families are ready to go. Today i went with 6 people from Orahovac to see Mr. Tuholka, to inform him of this and ask for his advice. He ad- vised us to appeal to the local court and to inform them of the depopulation, but the people of Orahovac cannot do it for the reason that the court would certainly hinder this cause and the Orahovac mudur (administrator) would be informed of this, and he, being also a villain and Serbian foe, would grow resentful and molest the miserable Serbian population even more. We told Mr. Tuholka this too, and he said the par- son and i should inform the Mutesarif (governor) of this.
Though it was very inconvenient for me to do this, as i am equally in villanous hands, threatened with murder, i had to do it nevertheless, hoping to help my poor parisheners at least a little. The Mutesarif said i should stop the peasants’ moving away, promising that within the next 7–8 days Sh- emsi-Pasha would be coming to improve the position of the local Serbs.
a question could be raised here: why do Serbs want to move away? The reason is in that since last year’s affair of Hoča, 40 families have been shut, not daring go anywhere. Their meadows are not mowed, their land not sown, their vineyards not spaded up (they do not dare till their land and neither do others), and there are no sources of income. The wretched souls cannot even go to church because as soon as they get out of their houses, a tax officer makes them go to court and pay tax, so how can this poor people hope to survive here?
With albanians and authorities themselves killing these poor people economically and working toward their exter- mination, there is nothing they can do but either to move away or to take weapons in their hands and pay back in kind, and for the sake of survival they need financial assistance and weapons to defend themselves when attacked.
On behalf of the Orahovac inhabitants, Mr. Rector, i kind- ly aks you to inform the competent authorities of the above said.
aS, MFa, 1906, row 59, Political and educational, No2314
ViOLeNCe aGaiNST PeaSaNTS WHO WeRe COLLeCTiNG GRaiN
Vice-Consul Nastas Dj. Nastasijević, to Nikola Pašić, President of the Ministerial Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
„Five days ago, i, my wife Cveta, my uncle Filip Stano- jević, his wife Gordana and my maiden sister Stanka were harvesting the yields of our land. Sun was not even set when two albanians from our neighborhood stormed in with drawn rifles: Osman avdić from Bor and Bahtijar Salijić, who set- tled in Gnjilane two years ago. They both shouted at the same time: „Men back off!“ and grabbed Stanka by the hand. When i came up to him and begged Osman to let my sister go, he shot two bullets at me, but did not hit me. Stanka snapped out and came to uncle Filip, crying: „Don’t let them have me! You’d better lose your lives than let them change my faith!“ Bahtijar shot at my uncle immediately, one bullet passing un- der his right arm and hitting his left breast, of which he im- mediately died. Having seen this, my sister Stanka set off to run immediately, but Osman saw that and fired at her, hit- ting her in the right loin, where the bullet stayed. after two hours of tremendous agony, Stanka passed away. Murderers Osman and Bahtijar ran away and nobody knows where they are“.
i gave Stojan instructions, so he immediately composed an application for the local representative of the State Pros- ecutor.
There, Mr. Minister President, that is the situation to which our poor population has been brought. They cannot even collect fruits of their land in peace, while all sorts of tax and toll are demanded from them.
it is not our girls that albanians want, they intend to oblit- erate us from the face of the earth, us „Skav i Djaur“, as they call us („Slave and infidel“).
Numan Lula, albanian from the village of Ljubižda near Peć, wounded on 22th last month a diligent husband Rade ivković, from the village of istok, in the same area, only to take over his land. Mr. arsenije Zdravković, graduate of Turk- ish law, our student, wrote an application and submitted it to the Mutesarif. The Mutesarif received the application, how- ever did nothing about it.
a.S, MFa, Political and educational Department, 1906, row 59, No 4277, 14 September 1906
NeW aCTS OF ViOLeNCe—SePTeMBeR 1906
Vice-Consul Milan M. Rakić to Nikola Pašić, President of the Ministerial Council
Political affairs, No 804 Priština,
September 26th/October 9th, 1906
(...) in the past month, violence has been on the rise in the area of Peć, murders, arsons and other forms of terror. While albanian Muslims are somewhat retired, the Catholics are attacking Serbian settlements with their force, and the bare- handed, dismal and devastated Serbs cannot possibly suc- ceed in resistance to their surge.
in one night, old and renowned Serbian homes were de- stroyed; the people got fled running for their lives, so noth- ing remained of the cooperative. The inhabitants of Peć want to move to Serbia and, not finding adequate assistance with this Consulate, try to cross the border any way they can.
On the 15th last month Rade ivković from istok was mur- dered. after the death of arsa Djurić he was considered to be the leader in the village, which is why they killed him.
Political and educational Department, No 777
Priština, September 10th/23th, 1906
esteemed Minister-President,
i am honored to kindly inform you that Stojan Kostić from
the village of Slavina, in the area of Priština, stated the fol- lowing at yesterday’s hearing:
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