Page 699 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Now that the date for delivery of the promise, St. Dimi- tri’s Day, is coming near, the crimes are getting ever more frequent. Not to even mention the district of Peć, where ter- ror [zulum] has never been mitigated, violence is spreading across the whole territory of Kosovo. in the past seven days, a Serb was murdered in Lipljan, by a man from Djakovica; a serf from Lipljan was heavily beaten for protecting a peas- ant, also from Lipljan; his house was attacked at night and drilled by a burst of gun fire.
at the night between 19th and 20th of this month, alba- nians attacked the house of Toma Terzić in Čaglavica and on that occasion took his 20 sheep.
Four days ago, the house of Rajko Krstić from Dobrotin was burnt down, the blaze threatening to engross the whole village, and was hardly extinguished. albanians were driv- ing away the crowd with gun shots, preventing them to put out the fire.
immediately after that event, an albanian beat up and left semi-conscious a local shop-owner only because he dared ask him to pay for some goods.
The village of Ugljare has been attacked twice by alba- nians, at night, trying to drive the cattle away from their barns. Practically nobody sleeps at night, sitting awake and guard- ing their yards, in fear of albanian attacks, as they have no weapons to defend themselves.
all these misdeeds remain unpunished because the au- thorities do nothing, or almost nothing, to proceed with them. While leaving the albanian crimes thus with impunity, the authorities punish most severely even the lightest Ser-
bian offences.
So, for instance, yesterday they were battering twelve our
compatriots in the hucumat (court council), for drunkenness and quarrels, although those events happened almost a month ago and fell into oblivion.
albanians are attacking and threatening incessantly, so the fear is growing as St. Dimitri’s Day is coming up.
The news of Serbia seizing Novi Pazar is being kept top- ical here, to perpetuate hard feelings of Turks and albanians against Serbs.
archive of Serbia, Ministry of Foreign affairs, Department of Pol- itics and education 1907, row 310, No 5811.
aCTS OF ViOLeNCe COMMiTTeD BY aLBaNiaNS aGaiNST SeRBS
Consul Milan M. Rakić to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Political and educational affairs No 837 Priština, October 12th–25th, 1911
albanian acts of terror [zulum] against the Serbs
From july 1 till the end of October 1911 in the areas (kazas) of Priština, Prizren and Tetovo and Sanjaks of Gostivar, Sje- nica, Peć and Pljevlja
Thefts 128 Cases of arson 35 Felonies 41 appropriation of property 53 Cases of blackmail 30 Cases of intimidation 19 attempted murders 37 armed attacks on property 58 Cases of battery and abuse 27 Forced conversions to islam 13 inflictions of serious injuries 18
A postcard from Priština, between the two World Wars
Sources and Testimonies
697