Page 799 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Further in the report with respect to the permanent displacement of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija he said: “For years, i have been beginning this section with the
same words: that the permanent dislocation of our popula- tion is still continuing. Unfortunately, it is with these same words that i can begin it this year, as well, because the per- manent dislocation is still continuing, and now this can be seen is the daily newspapers. Not a day goes by that we do not read about violence targeting adults and children, whether they are going to school or returning home, about rapes, about arson, theft of livestock, cutting down of for- ests, desecration of graves, etc.
i will cite only a few examples. in the village of Leočina near Peć, where only about 10 households remain out of 30, there are several church sites and two small churches, one dedicated to St. john the Baptist and another to the Holy Prophet jeremiah. The church of St. john was reno- vated a few years ago by the institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, which covered it with zinc-covered tin and installed a new door. The door is forced open regu- larly, and the rocks from gravestone monuments around the church are being removed and taken away. When the priest came to serve there last year, on the feast of St. jere- miah, he could not enter the church. in several places in the church itself, someone had defecated. He went to the closest house to ask them to clean the church. ’i went early this morning, father, and cleaned it,’ said the woman of the house, ’and as soon as i left they did the same thing again.’
Like in other places, in one village near Djurakovac, al- most grown albanian young men catch schoolchildren by the throat, when they are returning from school, take out their knives and tell them that next time they will slit their throats. They frequently swear and insult their families, saying, ’What are you doing here? This is enver Hoxha’s country! Move while you still can!’ Parents make the diffi- cult decision of not sending their children to school for a week. Finally, it was decided that Serb children are to go to school just in the morning.
in some locations thefts of livestock from Serb house- holds is a regular occurrence and the perpetrators are usu- ally not found.”129
in addition to Bishop Pavle’s, we have the testimony of hieromonk atanasije jevtić, who wrote in Pravoslavlje that on May 24 two minors of albanian nationality, a.a. and H.a., in the village of Muževina near istok attacked their neighbor Dragana Vojinović (20), a housewife in her own garden. although she did nothing to provoke them they hurled insults and foul language at her. Her husband Vito- mir said that these minors were the sons of Muharem ahtemi that they have been harassing Serb children for some time and doing damage to the Serbs with their live- stock. all this was reported to police several times but with-
129 AHSB, Syn No 1268/88.
Police prevents Kosovo Serbs to emigrating from Kosovo, 1986
out success because the albanian authorities in Kosovo and Metohija ignore the damage done to Serbs.130
in the same paper he went on to write that in the Serb hamlet of Dragiće in Mušutište around easter the alba- nians broke three water pipes used by Serbs. One albanian threatened a Serb man who complained about this, saying that this was their last easter in Kosovo; in other words, Move from here while you still have time.131
The Year 1989
His Grace Bishop Pavle of Raška and Prizren forwarded act No 707 from November 15, 1989 to the Holy Synod of Bishops where he said the following:
130 a. jevtić, “On Kosovo and from Kosovo.” 131 a. jevtić, “On Kosovo and from Kosovo.”
The Suffering and Persecution in Kosovo and Metohija from 1945 to 2005
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