The memory of ordinary, everyday intercultural or interreligious relationships, in brief 

This exceptionally multicultural municipality witnessed close friendships between its Albanian and Serbian speaking residents until the armed conflict of 1998-99. In parts of the municipality, residents  experienced a common life, learned  each others’ languages, worked, ate and drank together, attended each others’ weddings. Serbs fled in 1999, and – by contrast with many other towns and villages – have returned in significant numbers, and further movements to facilitate additional returnees continue to have practical international support. 

The context in which these relationships made a difference at the time

Muslim and Christian families have lived together here for centuries, and socialising and mutual support made life and work easier for residents – both those engaged in agriculture and those with other professions. This continued through the hardships of wartime and post-war Communism, though Serbs were targeted here by Albanian fighters in the Second World War. The population has also included a Serbian-speaking, Orthodox Christian Roma population, Albanian-speaking Muslim Egyptians and Ashkalis, Orthodox Montenegrins, and Serbian-Bosnian speaking Muslims. While different parts of the population might live in particular areas in the municipality – Serbs in Osojane village, for instance – the municipality is otherwise a location in which it made sense for residents to rely on neighbours, cooperating and nurturing friendships across linguistic and religious differences. 

What has happened since, which makes the memory valuable 

In 1999, Kosovar independence fighters attacked, and Serbian residents fled. In many of the mixed towns and villages of Kosovo (known in Serbian history as Kosovo and Metohija), a common life was ended. In Istok/Istog, over 1000 refugees were able to return by 2006. Rajka and Vukosav Vidić recalled (The Fates Behind the Numbers, p. 86):

Rajka Vidić (RV): Regardless of what happened down there, in essence, life here in general is tough. Vukosav owns the property in Kosovo. Had it not been for the war, we would have surely gone back. When I married him, we used to go visit. It was like in an oasis of some kind, a fairy-tale. We said “we are going to leave this to the children, and us two will go back down there, so I can keep livestock.” I love animals. I really wanted that. But after what happened, there is no going back. 

Vukosav Vidić (VV): I went down there after the war, in 2003 hoping to sell the property. I was with my neighbours, Albanians, with whom I remained on friendly terms; we did not have any bad words between us. 

RV: They welcomed him very nicely. VV: I thought the way our relationship was with our neighbours that the property would turn out much better. But I got disappointed. It may not have been them, my neighbours, it was most likely someone else. The water well… Thursdays were market days in Istok. Passers-by who came through would stop and drink water from the well. You can only imagine what it was like when the well was torn down, too. Not to mention the house and the rest.

 RV: All of the houses were torn down. Brand new houses. Nothing remains of it, just the concrete foundations. VV: The only tombstone that was left undamaged was my father’s. The neighbours most likely forbade its destruction.

RV: His father was on excellent terms with everyone. He was a honourable man. They lived very nicely at the time. No one made a difference is someone was an Albanian or a Serb. 

VV: We spent time mostly together. They would also come to our slava. RV: I liked it there. Now I have a phobia, to be honest… Fear. Fear. I don’t know how to explain it. 

VV: I am tied to that property, but I do not see any sort of perspective of living down there. Although, I say again—not a single moment am I afraid of my neighbours, but I am afraid of other people who come in… There are people, Serbs and Albanians alike, who are good and some who are bad. 

RV: We got a call from a man, who asked us if we would like to sell the property. We wanted to sell it, but he gave us such a small price of 9,000 Euros for 9 hectares of land. He challenged us along the lines of “No one else can buy except for us.” They were supposedly Agas who once owned the land there, in the 1920s. So we gave up, we did not want to agree to that price. It is, after all, nice land…

Continued return faces the contention that Serbs and other non-Albanians collaborated with the armed forces against the Albanians.  

How might the memory be used in bringing people together in practice now? 

The Memory Bank project would like to know if this can be of use in your context, bringing students together, or promoting new initiatives that can be inspired by the cooperative life of Istog/Istok before 1999. 

Additional context/Some additional reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istog

Agathe C. Mora, The Fates Behind the Numbers, 2013, p. 86. 

Jolyon Naegele, ‘Yugoslavia: Kosovo’s Muslim Slavs Face Identity Crisis’, RFRL 9/9/1999. https://www.rferl.org/a/1092170.html.