Right after the war, monuments and memorial sites flourished in Kosovo, mainly erected by families that lost beloved ones during the war. These monuments and memorials were erected to commemorate soldiers and commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) as well as war victims. There are only a few memorials that have been erected under the patronage of the Kosovo government; several others under the direction of municipalities, whereas the rest are private initiatives.

The location of monuments and memorials sites varies from place to place. In urban areas, in cities, usually there is one monument that perpetuates the remembrance of the hero to whom the monument is erected, but also to the last war. Usually, the hero is either from that city or from the region around. Many times, location itself is a historical venue, as it is a place where the hero died. Similar to this practice are the memorial sites.

A location that is interesting and somehow characteristic is the hill in Velania neighborhood, in Prishtina, in which one could say that different historical and ideological periods coexist into one space. Through a monument, which commemorates the partisans of WWII, now reminiscent of communist regime; the cemetery of Prishtina martyrs from the last war in Kosovo; and the mausoleum of former Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova, which signifies the peaceful resistance in Kosovo during nineties.

As far as non urban places concerns, generally monuments are built with family or community initiatives. Most of the monuments and memorials were erected and built in the sites where the atrocities were committed against civilians by the Serbian police and paramilitaries; certain battles happen; or a particular hero of the region or of the village died there.

The biggest and the most visited memorial site is the one of Jasharaj in village Prekaz, Skenderaj municipality. Adem Jashari, one of the founders and the commander of Kosovo Liberation Army, is to the Albanians of Kosovo a symbol of freedom and the Independence of Kosovo. In 1998, Adem Jashari and 52 members of his family (including his mother, wife and children, his brothers and their families) were killed by the Serbian police and army. Jasharaj memorial site has become a national pilgrimage destination, especially for the Diaspora Albanians.

Another memorial sites that is unique both in the way that is built but also to what represents is the memorial of KLA martyrs in Morinë, Skenderaj. This memorial was built by the municipality of Skenderaj, in a way that resembles the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.

Most of monuments and memorials in Kosovo, especially those built right after the war, resemble the soc-realism art, but with national symbols. In a way, the imprinted images in people’s memory of the past Yugoslav monuments have been reproduced at the present but in a nationalized appearance. In general, most of monuments, if not all, are built to commemorate and honor male heroes. So far, to my knowledge, there is no monument or a memorial for a woman martyr or to women who fought during the war in Kosovo, in different ways.

Eli Krasniqi (Alter Habitus – Insitute for Social and Cultural Studies)

Tags: monuments, memorial sites