Page 721 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Balkan Wars 1912–1913
General Božidar Janković, Commander of Third Serbian army, Liberator of Kosovo, October 1912
The Liberation of Prizren in 1912
...And on the evening of October 17th, a young, eques- trian division of the Serbian Army entered Prizren. Mayor Selimir Ostojić sat the Prizren barracks down with an es- kadron horseman. He made a fire all long in the surround- ing hills, the trumpet played on all sides and he sent a mes- sage that all citizens of Prizren prepare 10,000 bread for the army the following day. The next morning he called upon all the Prizren citizens by proclamation to surrender. Isa Boljetinac together with his Arnauts and the broken down army near Prizren of Dzavid Pasha with 8,000 columns of Ottoman soldiers stood near Prizren. When the Russian Consul Emilianov found out how small the Serbian army was, and furthermore that it was not receiving assistance, he asked the mayor, Ostojić, to leave, to not endure defeat, for no one will say that the Turks defeated a handful of Ser- bian horsemen, but they would spread word that the Ser- bian army was defeated at Prizren which would evoke a bad impression. Nor is it right that such heroic soldiers should perish. Mayor Ostojić told him: „i can’t retreat any longer. i killed the Serbian flag in Prizren and i will die beside it!” When the Consul Emilianov told him about it later, he said: “Write as much as you can about this. They are heroes of which the whole world should know!” At that time there was a terrible commotion in Prizren. Not only Serbs came to Consul Emilianov asking for protection (and he protected them as much as he could), but Turks came to him as well. They asked to be taken under his protection in the event the Serbian army entered. He promised them he would, but he also told them: “i will be able to do this only when you prevent bloodshed.” There were many of them who pro- voked blood. And there was on the square, by the fountain, turbulent scenes and agreements. Some said: “it’s a shame what we have to endure, that a few Serbian horsemen take Prizren from us, when we could destroy them...” ...When the mighty Serbian army entered Prizren with canons and horsemen, there was an indescribable enthusiasm. At the entrance of the town General [Božidar] Janković was greet- ed by the clergy with a litiya (procession), Serbs welcomed him with an indescribable enthusiasm, but he was also wel- comed by Turks. Even the women came out, and they ap- peared publicly, demonstrating after many hundreds of years.
From the book by Jaša Tomić:
War in Kosovo and Old Serbia in 1912 (Novi Sad, 1913). 719
Serbian army in front of Gračanica
Balkan Wars 1912–1913
Serbian army under Zvečan
Serbian officers in Peć