Massacre Relived: Book Sheds New Light on a Kosovo Atrocity

Shehu has died in February this year

Qemail Krasniqi and Agron Limani, authors. Photo: BIRN

It retells the stories of the people who lost their loved ones in the massacre carried out in the village of Krusha e Vogël/Mala Krusha, in Prizren municipality, one of the most notorious crimes Serbian forces committed in the war in Kosovo of the late-1990s.

The massacre - a shocking act of revenge - took place at noon on March 26, 1999, two days after NATO launched airstrikes against Serbian forces, operating under the ultimate command of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Shehu and 118 other men and boys, his two sons included, were separated from their families and placed in a small house in the village. They were then shot and the house set on fire.

Front page of the book

Co-authors Limani and Krasniqi follow the victims' stories from the past to the present, over the two decades that have elapsed since the armed conflict ended with Serbia's enforced withdrawal.

"From the beginning to its end, this book is a tale of cruelty, slaughter and impunity. It contains no heroes, only victims and executioners," Limani told BIRN.

The book contains 55 interviews with survivors and family members of the victims. Some of them have since passed away, including two of the six survivors.

"We worked for more eight years on this book, collecting evidence and interviewing survivors and family members. The book is a memory of an atrocity that happened as well as of the silence and impunity surrounding it," Limani said.

Parts of the evidence collected about the massacre was previously handed over to prosecutors from the UN and EU missions. Some of it became part of the indictment...