Part Four
Jeta Rexha: Perhaps you could now start telling us about the ‘90s?
Myrvete Limani: I would ask you to speak a bit louder because…
Jeta Rexha: Can you hear me?
Myrvete Limani: Yes, yes, I can, I am just asking you questions time after time.
Jeta Rexha: No, it doesn’t matter. About the 1990s and then you start telling about the war.
Kaltrina Krasniqi: Perhaps you could start from the year 1989 when the Kosovo autonomy was suppressed.
Myrvete Limani: I will talk a bit about the ‘80s demonstrations. I will never forget, those were huge demonstrations, and hostile that… shkijet got really furious. Fadil got out, there was no other way, because Fadil was there and he found out because he was a member of the high forums in Belgrade. As usual, Serbs prepared a plan to come to Kosovo and eliminate the Albanian youth, eliminate it. There was no other way, do you know what it means no other way but go out and tell these people, the youth, “Be careful because,” he used a very unpleasant expression. But he had no right… he had right. How shall I say this, because Serbs got ready to eliminate, he was there and he heard it, because they wanted to discharge him, too, and all Albanians that were there. And they made up their minds to murder the Kosovar youth, murder Albanians. “You,” as in, “move away, don’t stay in the streets because…” Someone took it terribly. I, in order to show how much I hate you, the other one will say that I am ready to take your life. But how can I let you know, tell you to be careful, because you are being marked for death, and Fadil wasn’t to blame.
Anyway, Fadil was discharged afterwards. I don’t know how did Fadil survive, he had a life. How many times did Serbs decide to eliminate him. He didn’t fight with Serbs, he fought in a brotherly way, thinking that Kosovo will win its independence, that Kosovo will separate and so. But war is a dirty war. Then others come and take away our rights. Check this out, you are independent, a democracy, yet they’ve taken North Mitrovica. What can you do? They’re not letting them build homes, that’s what Serbs are like. And one has no right to speak well about them. Although we are full of anger, now that I am saying, today I only speak freely with you because it’s shameful. And now we need to permit, the Special Court,[1]the sentencing of Albanians, and so on.
The war of the ‘90s was a war of hope, of hope. The war started, then liberation. Fadil was saying, “I am old, otherwise I would wear opanga,[2] I would go to the woods, they are not going to win independence, the world is not going to give it to you. Serbs won’t give it to you, the world won’t give it to you.” Then it had to be done through politics with Tito, push and pull, because I have met Tito in several occasions, when I was a member of delegations and so on. There was no other way, can you take a group of Albanians, Kosovars to… but it was great luck that there were many republics, otherwise if we were to be only with Serbs {rubs the palms of her hands}, we would have been leveled to the ground. We had Croatia, Slovenia, they supported us more or less. Politics is a very dirty thing.
Kaltrina Krasniqi: Where were you when the demonstrations of 1981 happened?
Myrvete Limani: In ‘81, I was in the facility in Ulpiana, I had many facilities with little children. I was staying in the yard to make sure no one is coming to the children, because even parents couldn’t come to collect the children either. It was like this {puts her hands together}. And this is where Xhahid’s family was, at home here, I stayed there. I was thinking, they might come in and take away my children, and I stayed protecting the children to the last moment. They started because they couldn’t go out, because there was a big crowd up there in the hill by the students and there, you know where Ulpiana is. I stayed there, in the yard, I was thinking someone will approach me, but no, no one can take my children unless I go myself. And I stayed there, until they started withdrawing, withdrawing. Parents came one by one to collect their children, parents came to collect their children, until the last child was gone, only then did I leave to go home.
When they arrived, I left to go home, it was like this {shows the crowd with hands}, I was thinking someone will shoot me now. Because I too, had adversaries among Serbs, the whole staff, a big part of it and in the school Aca Marović, and I had Serbs in the kindergarten as well. They were openly opposing me, it was very open. I and politics, with all that, there was no other way around it, no other way. Either one was political, or go suffer and close down, you couldn’t even work. You had to protect those children, who would turn their children to the hands of Serbs unless I was there or… another educator, or… an Albanian. I had a very difficult job. We had seven or eight facilities, you have it at home, you have your child at home and you’re afraid of what might happen to your child, at home, right here your child. Never mind the children of foreigners, different ones until they would come back from work, I had a very difficult job. But I was successful, oh God. Thank God, I never made even the slightest mistake.
And then the newspapers started writing. Do you know what they wrote about me, whoa, I was an enemy and beyond. “She didn’t take in Albanian children, she is not looking after Serbian children… no, she did not admit Serbian children, they are all Albanian.” There were seven or eight big facilities. Three in Ulpiana, then in Kodra e Diellit, then in Obiliq, then we had…
I told you how many facilities we had, three in Ulpiana, in Obiliq one, in Kodra e Diellit two in Kodra e Diellit, five or six facilities and four new big facilities were built. Each facility of course with certain number of children, and children were admitted upon request: this many Albanian children, this many Serbian, according to this. And someone’s children got admitted, there were Albanians that got upset because theirs didn’t get admitted. Then we were funded by the Social BVI [Self-managaging Community of Interests] of Pristina. The Social BVI of Pristina was run by Serbs, there was one Montenegrin and one Serb. And when we went to the meetings, we were in the meeting where the budget was being dispersed, where the salaries were being administered, on the budget for the facilities, because we had the central kitchen as well, they ate and drank there.
You had to ask for funding, they were now making an issue out of it. For example, this much money I need, this much money I need, funding. There was a Serb, or two there, and they were all against me. And now they were liking it, they were trying very hard so that I’d tell them, “Why,” I would tell, “Zašto ti vi verujete samo njoj, zato što je Srpkinja, a meni ne verujete [Why do you trust only her, because she is a Serb, but you don’t trust me].” Anyway, but there was one of them, Jovica Ivančević. He was good, he tried, he tried really hard when I would stand, “Myrveta, dobit ćeš sve! [Myrvete, you will get everything!]” He would tell me “dobit ćeš sve.” But there was an Albanian, a very bad man. And the Albanian does you the greatest wrong. I won’t say his second name because you must know him, I’d feel bad [for people] to hear. So I want to tell you that I went through a lot of hardship, I had a very hard duty. Then children had to go out safely. They’d get hurt or that, oh. Then mothers would come, they’d say, “You are taking them in by favoritism, you’re favoring this one, you’re not favoring the other.”
One came and criticized me whether I was admitting children through bribery, when she told me so, I held her by the arm, I thought I was going to tear her apart. I went to… I was very harsh as well, I went to the Secretary, and he told me, “Director, please take it easy,” she said. “No, no I didn’t.” “No,” I said, “You will say who took the money. You will either tell us now who took the money, or you will be labeled otherwise.” I held her, I tore her, she upset me so much. I thought, maybe someone took money, an employee or someone else. It was a very hard job, very difficult job.
Then we had many facilities under our mandate. You have a child at your home and you are afraid, it might get hurt or else… I worked very hard. I was successful everywhere, but I was very honest in my work and I was seriously engaged.
Kaltrina Krasniqi: When did the first preschool in Kosovo open?
Myrvete Limani: I was not here when the first preschools started here, I was in Prizren, than later I worked in schools. Preschool came by chance, they were offering me to work in school as principal, but I didn’t want to because I was thinking I have three sons, it’s better for them to have a warm home, let them come eat at home, rather than in the streets. So even later when I worked in conferences I was like this.
I had a mother-in-law, she was a good woman from Prizren, she was old. She was praying all day long, she was Xhahid’s mother, a good woman. I was thinking, let me have a home, when you have… even your husband is calm when your home is in order. If the house is not in order, even the husband will run out of the house. Those were my duties. But I did work, I was never out of work, I always worked.
Kaltrina Krasniqi: Where were you during the last war in 1999?
Myrvete Limani: Did I tell you?
Kaltrina Krasniqi: No, we spoke about the year 1990, 1989… 1981, and now…
Myrvete Limani: Did I tell you that during the National Liberation War we were in the highlands of Albania. That is very important.
Kaltrina Krasniqi: Will you tell us?
Myrvete Limani: I will tell you this first, see, I forgot it. The actions, now that Fadil was a commander, the actions he took on, we who were in Kosovo, in Gjakova, our home, we were people who were being held. If he took on an action, they hanged our brother, they imprisoned the other one. They imprisoned our father, they burned down our house, they did everything to us. The biggest misfortune, when they burned down our house, we were looking for a house to rent, people in the neighborhood were afraid to let a house to us. Why were they afraid? Because they were saying, “An action against you will affect the neighborhood as well, the neighborhood will be damaged too.” Therefore, we were at big risk, all of us who were in Gjakova, my old father, mother, she was old enough as well, we were of various ages. My brother was the main one and he had to, those who were hostages, we were the hostages there.
They burned down the house on the 1st of April 1943. No one in the neighborhood wanted us, imagine. People were afraid because, “If they come to harm you, it will affect the neighbors aside and across.” We also had a maternal uncle, he looked after us. And my uncle, we stayed a long time in my uncle’s house. And Fadil, seeing that there was a big risk involved, would say, “I can’t take on any action. You are hostages, they would kill you, they would…” He sent us a message, our father was imprisoned, he sent a letter to mother saying, “Take the girls, take the two younger brothers,” Emin and Skender, “and come join the partisans.” The partisans got organized here, and we went to the highlands of Albania, to Dushaj. They placed us in a house there, and we stayed in Dushaj until the war was over.
Then the Partisan League that we had in Gjakova brought us here, they smuggled us through the border, as you would say. How did we cross, we crossed somehow and got to the highlands. We got through Tropoja and entered the highlands of Albania. They placed us in Dushaj with a very good family, and the family had taken the duty to look after us. A partisan used to live there with us, it was Zenel Ahmeti. He was there with his wife and three daughters, they were all grown-up. And throughout the night the villagers would come and stay in his house to guard us. Until the end of the Second World War, when we were liberated on the 9th of May, we were in Dushaj until then. From there we came to Tropoja. In Tropoja we stayed in the house of Gjakovan Spahi, he had a shop and we stayed there. On the 9th Gjakova was liberated.
That sister of mine was… because she went with the partisans, I couldn’t, because I was too young, and they didn’t take me. I, two brothers and my mother were in Dushaj, we stayed there. We lived there several months, I can’t remember now how many months, I shouldn’t talk by heart now, because I was just a child. Then we came back, on the 9th Gjakova was liberated I think, in September, I don’t know, I forgot these dates, except the liberation date of Gjakova. She went with the partisans, my oldest sister Nexhmije, Nexhmije was her name. In fact she was later married in Peja. And so… we only came afterwards.
My father came later, they released him from the Nazi camp in Switzerland, he was only released later. So we had a life, a remarkable life…
Kaltrina Krasniqi: Shall we talk now about the last war, about 1999?
Myrvete Limani: About 1999, I heard Fadil say with my own ears, “I am too old, otherwise I would have put on opanga and would have gone out.” He was taking it very hard that he could not help, here some financial assistance somehow, but we were having really high hopes that there will be victory.
But then they started coming, they came here, from the neighborhood, we had Serbian neighbors. They climbed over the wall here, where the rosebushes are and seven or eight armed people came into our house. They knew who we were, we had prepared a place to sleep in the basement. We had brought in things, and blankets so we could sleep in the basement, at that time they were throwing bombs as well and we could have… Then when we saw that we were at high risk, we were at risk, these girls were small then, they filled in their little school bags with a change of clothes, and we left the house. The house has no value, a newly-built house.
Ilir took us, the other son was living in an apartment. We went to take Dukagjin, the neighbors came out saying, “Dukagjin is not here.” They had taken him the previous night, put him in a line to be expelled to Albania. We left, when we got to the station there they were – the police. They spoke with Ilir, they took his car. They told him, “Give us your car, we’ll give it back to you when the war is over.” He gave them the paperwork, the car, we got on the train and went to Albania.[3]
When we went to Albania it was winter time, harsh snow. I was very ill. And then, we stayed like that in the cold. The Macedonians did not accept us, they left us on that platform. There were thousands of people, mud, soil, cold, disaster. Even I, we slept and stayed in the mud. They brought some plastic sheets, there were hundreds of Albanians, hundreds. Some died, some couldn’t bear it, many people died. Macedonians wouldn’t let us go to Skopje.
At last, a colleague of Ilir had a house in Macedonia. They [the police] barely let us in, we went to his house, he took us in. We stayed there for two months, maybe longer. And this is how we got through that. It was a good family, Ilir was colleagues with that friend, a university professor, they worked together. I can’t remember the names now. But it was a good family, they looked after us until Kosovo was liberated and then we came back here.
When we got here, they were watching through satellite TV, they were saying they didn’t burn your house. The house was saved, we came to this house where we were before. In Gjakova they made a slaughter, but not in our family, no one was murdered in our family. In Gjakova all sons and families, everyone in the house was listening to the names of those families, Serbs made a slaughter in Gjakova. And so… what else to tell you?
So we got liberated, what did we win when we got liberated? No one recognizes Kosovo. Thanks to America, even they… otherwise we were going to be worse than we ever were. Americans helped us, they helped us. We arrived, now again I don’t know if they helped us, but they have both helped us and crippled us. They are not happy. Now instead of minding the country, jobless people are leaving Kosovo, they have no food to eat. What else can I tell you, there’s nothing else to tell you. Unsatisfied, and they are not capable of forming a proper government. They are fighting against each other {claps hands}. It’s just like if I said bad things about you, where is the friendship then, where is the goodness. Curse… there’s nothing for me to say, nothing to say, don’t ask me anymore as I may have negative expressions.
[The interviewer asks about the dreams that the interviewee had when she was young, about the objectives that she has achieved and how she feels nowadays.]
Independently of the fact that you heard that I have survived wars and everything, and all the suffering we went through, I have been very happy in the end. My family was very healthy. My father’s family and where I was brought up, was even healthier. Therefore, all my memories are good, excellent, and I am proud and I praise it with clear consciousness. The well-known house of ours, of my family, and of my husband, it is an honorable family of Prizren. I had an excellent life, I would never have wished for better. War is war, it takes through its way, and it has its sufferings. Life paths that I have survived both when in my father’s house, and in my husband’s house, I was very lucky. But I also tried to preserve this tradition because I contributed to it as well.
I don’t think I made any mistakes in my life, I don’t think so. I was respected, anyone who has known me or has spoken to me, they have respected me, I was respected in all instances. I am proud of my life, my family, my families, of my father, my mother, my brothers, sisters, of everyone. We are unblemished. I like an open, but controlled life. I… I don’t like it when I see scattered youth, it should be wholesome, close to human norms, that is what I like. I don’t like some norms that are loose and uncontrolled, that’s what I mean. Let them come forward, the ones that can point a finger at me, let them come forward. All the best… I am very proud of my family, of my husband’s family, of my children, and then my father’s family and all the relatives. There is no one in the family that has a single flaw, the women, the brides, have all the best [qualities]. I am very, very proud. At least, maybe I am feeling a bit bad for saying this as thanks God there are many more families like mine, but it is perfect, it’s perfect.
Kaltrina Krasniqi: Thank you.
Myrvete Limani: We were very lucky, because one is enough to ruin your order, very lucky. I was praised at work, both me and all my children, and they were excellent in their studies. My son who passed away, oh Lord, he was a special miracle. Ilir and Dukagjin, my grandsons, my granddaughters, maybe I am bragging a lot, but feel free to ask. Here, you know some of the girls here, we are very proud. I am without a blemish. I didn’t need my health to deteriorate like this, but it happened, there’s nothing I can do. Until a year ago I was as strong as an oak tree, an oak tree. Truly, old age arrived, but a controlled age, an age with its rules, with memories, with everything, with work, all usual.
And, it’s interesting this thing of mine, at least they are all surprised by it, the things from my childhood, since the age of six or seven, I remember them. And no one has told me personally, “Remember these!” but I heard them once and they’ve rested in my head. And they are surprised, but I fell recently, it has damaged me, it has damaged me, it has damaged me. If I only had peace for the remaining time ahead of me, then it would be a perfect praise. Well, well, I am proud of my life, of my family and all my families before. You’ve had a chance to hear, there is no one amongst us, not even a distant relative that has made mistakes. This was our fate, this is how the origin was maintained, like this. Then Xhahid’s well-known family in Prizren. And I have accepted him because we differed very little from each other, Gjakova and Prizren, they speak Turkish, we speak Albanian. What, what a perfect family.
Kaltrina Krasniqi: Thank you.
[1] Special Tribunal to prosecute former KLA members for crimes committed during the war from Janaury 1998 through December 2000.
[2] Albanian leather shoes like moccasins.
[3]The speaker corrects herself below, it was Macedonia, not Albania.