Part One
Aurela Kadriu: Can you introduce yourself and tell us some of your early childhood memories, so your family background and whatever you remember from your childhood?
Edita Tahiri: I am Edita Tahiri. I come from Prizren. Known for my work as a politician, diplomat, negotiator, as well as one of the main leaders of the Movement for Independence. At that time, the Democratic League of Kosovo as the Peaceful Movement for Independence, and my whole life journey was a commitment to national issues, for the independence and freedom of Kosovo. But there were times when I also devoted myself to academic life doing my education at Harvard, then my doctorate at Johns Hopkins and the University of Prishtina.
I got a master’s at the University of Essex as well, and at the University of Prishtina I studied at the Faculty of Electronics. And the rest, since Harvard and others, it was associated with master’s and doctoral degrees in political science. I have been living in Prishtina since I was elected chairwoman of the Democratic League in 1991. Before that I lived in Prizren, except for when I studied in Pristina and in Britain, Essex.
Aurela Kadriu: What was your childhood like in Prizren and your family background, what family do you come from?
Edita Tahiri: My childhood was quite difficult as well as my whole family’s, because I come from a patriotic family. My father was one of the main activists of the illegal movement known as the National Democratic Movement, which aimed to unite Kosovo with Albania. And for his national activity he was imprisoned during the Ranković regime, it was a very difficult period, where Albanians were oppressed and persecuted in the most severe ways due to the commitments to the rights of Albanians and the commitments of national unity.
He was in prison for five years, sentenced nine years, it was the time I had just been born, when he went to prison I was eleven months old. When he came back I was six years old, my mother couldn’t deal with us, she had to work to keep us alive, but she also had to take care of my father in prison. For me, I defined it as an imprisoned childhood, because that period was all about that tragedy, but also about our pride, because my mother would teach us to be proud when we go to school or when we are with our friends.
Because, “Your father is in prison for good things, for the nation and you should be proud and not feel bad.” Despite the socio-political context at that time, it was that most were not committed to national issues, a few had patriotic families or patriotic individuals. So, we belonged to this patriotic minority and the others in a way came to terms with the communist system and with the fact of the division of the Albanian nation. This was not accepted by my parents, but then it also became the cause for us, the children of this family.
So, we deeply understood the division of the Albanian nation, we deeply understood the injustice and where did this injustice come from that happened to the Albanians living in four – five countries due to the decisions of that time of some great powers, which was then exploited by Serbia and Yugoslavia to oppress and leave the Albanians as far back as possible. However, it is important that when living in a family with a patriotic spirit, it creates an ideal for life, creates a life purpose. Not because I was immediately involved in politics, but that patriotic inspiration lived with me.
Also, Prizren as the capital of Albania gave us an additional inspiration because as children we often visited it. So this is the context in which I grew up as a child. I was an excellent student, in all grades, both elementary school and high school. From the descriptions that the family gives, they say that I was wise, polite. And then when I became involved as one of the founders of the Democratic League in Prizren, in opposition to the Serbian occupation, it seemed somewhat like an energy or an internal force that developed in my family and then exploded in the sense of direct commitment to the establishment. And then I was quickly elected to the leadership of the Democratic League as well.
I was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo for ten years from ‘91 until 2000. After Kosovo was liberated, then came the UNMIK institutions, but until then I acted as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The reason why I was elected to this position was not that I had any political or diplomatic experience, but as they explained from the presidency of the Democratic League, it was because firstly I came from a national family, nationally formed, patriotic. Secondly, I was educated in the west and spoke English fluently, because as I told you, after studying at the University of Prishtina, I got a master’s degree in electronics and telecommunications in the UK at the University of Essex.
So I had a {opens her arms} a background that gave me the opportunity to get involved in the diplomacy of Kosovo. It was a very important period because the activity took place in Kosovo and I had an activity divided into two parts. A part of it I was in Kosovo and we are engaged with the entire leadership and president of the LDK, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, to preserve the resistance, the spirit, the resistance of the people through the organizations we made. Practically, the Democratic League of Kosovo as a movement for independence was successful in the sense that it organized the state institutions in the circumstances of occupation, and another strategic direction was the internationalization of Kosovo’s case and in this task I was the mainly responsible as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
I can also say that political-diplomatic engagements gave me the opportunity to do something that I had not planned at all as a life mission, to be in the service of the nation, liberation, independence, these became my primary commitment and to this day. So, these 30 years all my commitment and dedication is related to the Albanian nation, to the state of Kosovo, to make our nation as strong as possible, to make Kosovo a state as strong as possible internationally, fully accepted and an Euro-Atlantic state. Where Western values, our values as an ancient and European nation converge and therefore be integrated in this Euro-Atlantic community.
Aurela Kadriu: I would want to go back to Prizren once more, you mentioned that your father was politically involved, I would want you to tell us in detail about elementary and high school, but also tell us more about how your father’s involvement reflected on your life, so in school and in general?
Edita Tahiri: I finished primary school near my house, at that time it was called 17 Nëntori School. While, high school in the gymnasium. Regarding the influences that the family or the nation has experienced, my father, although tortured in the prisons of Serbia, in Mitrovica and Srem as one of the worst prisons, he did not want to influence our orientations. Besides, he drew a red line, he did not allow us to become members of the Communist Party, because he was a democrat, he was committed to democratic values. And because he thought, and I think he was right, that communism was in the service of Slavic interests and we Albanians suffered from such a system.
So, that was the reason why I never joined the Communist Party, on the other hand I did not join the Illegal Movement as my older sister did for example. Because not that the father intended to intimidate us from illegal engagements and dangers, but he has constantly asked us to be aware if we make a commitment decision what we can suffer because he has suffered. From a well-known figure in the city of Prizren, from a leadership position, when he came out of prison he came mentally ill. And I and everyone else lived with a dad who for ten years refused to sit with us at the lunch table. He lived in a house prison because his psycho-social condition was terribly damaged.
So, that was the reason why I never joined the Communist Party, on the other hand I did not join the Lëvizjen Ilegale [Illegal Movement] as my older sister did, for example. Because my father did not intend to intimidate us from illegal engagements and danger, but he constantly asked us to be aware that we can suffer if we make a commitment, as he did. He went from a well-known figure in the city of Prizren, from a leadership position, when he came out of prison he came back mentally ill. And me, and everyone else lived with a dad who refused to sit with us at the dining table for ten years. He lived in a house prison because his psycho-social condition was terribly damaged.
Not to mention that he rarely talked about his tortures, but when we grew up we insisted. I insisted when I turned 18, I said, “Now is the time to understand what your tortures were.” I can say that torture has gone as far as electric torture, so severe forms were used by Serbia and Serbian structures against Albanians. And practically all his story, but also his attitude was an inspiration to me, because he said, “Whoever is in the prisons of Serbia should not be accused if they betray a friend or collaborator,” but he said, “I could not do it, therefore the torture against me was greater.”
And it is true that at the time when my father and his friends were imprisoned, no one was imprisoned after my father because he stopped it, so he managed not to give them the names of his friends, and that was a great value. But, I believe that it has influenced our personalities, in a way, whatever work you do but especially the national commitment, do it with principles and values and with an honesty as the nation and society deserves. Especially for the fact that we, Albanians, have had a tragic fate. This tragic fate of the national division has been directly reflected in my home, because my mother was from Albania and she got married to my father during the Second World War and the border was immediately closed.
You probably know the story that Albanians from Kosovo during the Second World War did not want to fight against the German and Italian occupation, because at that time we practically united as a nation. Albanian schools were opened, some perspective began. But in the end, in the last period of the war, there was an offer from the other nations of the former Yugoslavia to recognize our right to self-determination and for us to take part in the war. It was this event known as the Bujan Conference, which adopted a resolution allowing Kosovo to join Albania after the end of World War II.
However, immediately after the war ended, the betrayals of the communist structures and the Assembly of Prizren began, so the parliament of… excuse me, the Parliament of Kosovo, the Assembly of Kosovo was forced to declare the violent union of Yugoslavia and Serbia in the same package. So we were again forced to remain under the domination and oppression of Yugoslavia but mostly executed by Serbian policies. So I wanted to tell you that my father did not prefer to influence our national commitments but his own tragic story, his own vision and commitment to the nation, I believe became an inspiration for us, and for me since every day as a child and as an adult I have faced the division of the nation.
Because my mother tried for forty years to go to Albania and meet her family. As you know, we had an Albanian Berlin Wall between us. She died without meeting her family and I lived in an environment where my mother almost every morning either woke up with a dream that she went to Albania or with a dream that she met her mother, brother. So this was my childhood, on the one hand my father was in prison for national issues, on the other hand my mother was in a constant longing because of the tragic division of the nation. And when I started the engagement in the years ‘88-‘89, so later I analyzed all these circumstances, so the family and national circumstances influenced that at a certain moment I set out to work for national ideals.
Aurela Kadriu: It seemed very interesting to me that your sister was in Lëvizjen Ilegale, do you have any stories that she has told you, what was it like for you…
Edita Tahiri: My older sister was a student at the High Pedagogical School in Prizren, studying mathematics. And those high school students joined an illegal group, as they did all over Kosovo. These are the students of the 1968 demonstrations.
Aurela Kadriu: Aha.
Edita Tahiri: So, my sister was one of the main figures, they were held all over Kosovo, in Prizren when the flag was raised… Even, since we are talking about this, let me tell a story about myself at that time. At the time they were preparing to raise the flag, student meetings were usually held in our house and they needed to sew the edges of the flag, they had the flag but its edges weren’t sown. And I was around twelve years old, and they asked me to take it to the tailor. I immediately accepted, I accepted and I went there. The tailor was the mother of one of those who were part of the ‘68 group and when the job was done, I came back, I handed it to them.
Now when they were ready to go to the League of Prizren to raise the flag, I asked to go with them and my sister and the others told me, “No, no, you are young, you cannot come.” So I said (laughs), “I was not young to take the flag” {points left}, because I had to go through the city, “So I did that and I want to be there.” So they took me with them. So, since then I have been indirectly involved in these events and practically some of my sister’s friends, collaborators have been imprisoned and my sister after that time spoke about the intensity of the engagement as a recommendation of friends in prison.
Aurela Kadriu: Do you remember in more detail when you gathered to go there?
Edita Tahiri: We were all there, my older sister Shyhretja, then the sister with whom I live here Myfidja, we were all there. I also remember that before we went to the League of Prizren, there was a parade with the Albanian flag on all the main streets of Prizren. Then we ended up at the League of Prizren and two of the students managed to put it on the pole {points up} so to the League of Prizren and at the moment when the flag started to fly the police immediately intervened, beat and arrested several people.
However, the effect of that event was very great in Prizren. So, they were the first sparks of a new movement, because Albanians since the tragic national division at the London Conference in 1913, have had constant movements and resistance for self-determination, freedom and independence, and this event and these student’s commitments were a stage of all the movements, all the generations engaged, including the Democratic League as a peaceful movement and the Kosovo Liberation Army as an armed movement and many others known to our history.
Aurela Kadriu: Which year did you come to Pristina to study?
Edita Tahiri: I started my studies in 1974, after graduating from high school I studied, as I told you earlier, at the Technical Faculty, the Department of Electronics with telecommunications. A field that was not my first choice. Here, too, I want to share an important event, I was constantly interested in studying psychology. The reason was that I was very eager to understand my father’’s state of mind and the damage that the Serbian prison had done to him. Since at that time the Department of Psychology did not exist at the University of Prishtina, it existed in Zagreb and other cities. And, since my family did not have the financial means to invest in my studies, I was forced to change my orientation.
At that time electronics seemed like a modern field, Kosovo was far from any technological development, but it was more of a trend than a designation. And, since I always felt this unfulfilled desire to study psychology, then in parallel constantly read literature of psychology, psychoanalysis. I have read almost all known psychoanalysts, their works. These days I will bring the library from Prizren, since I finally moved to my apartment after 30 years of work for Kosovo and the nation.
Why did I read, not study but attentively reading to be able to… to understand my father’s spiritual world, but also other Albanians, not only the ones who were in prisons but also for the ones who were missing, who were killed and tortured, the reflections of our national tragedy, but the initial and most important motive was my father’s fate. Even though he didn;’t make a big deal out of his illness, he… even though he was isolated, he was very proud. When he decided to meet us, I’m talking about the first ten years because he went to rehabilitation after, if he decided to meet to us in the hallway or in the living room, he had a pride which reflected strength and I liked that.
For that reason, seeing all that suffering and on the other hand he had a very dignified attitude, and my studies or active readings I would say in psychoanalysis helped me in a way to achieve this life desire, not to let it fade away, but realize it. So I successfully completed the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications. I was a good student, and even later as a teacher of these subjects I wrote the first book in Albanian, the book Electronics for high schools. This also came as a patriotic incentive, because when I started teaching in Prizren in the technical school, it was the time of the demonstrations of the students of ‘81, that I graduated in ’80, I started teaching in ‘81.
And some of my students were arrested, so it was a new confrontation with the new reality we had, and that year in September, giving the literature to my students on the board, I immediately had a reaction why there are always books in Serbo-Croatian. So I did not have a book to recommend in Albanian. But also the relations with Albania, the border was closed, we could not get books from Albania because there were books written in Albanian or translated and this was the moment when I decided (laughs), “I will remove one of these books in this language,” and for several years I worked on that book, then it was published by the Textbook Office of Kosovo.
So I chose the field of electrical engineering and telecommunications and got involved. I also went to study in Great Britain at the University of Essex, I got a master’s degree in this field, in digital telecommunications, which was also very far from the realities and level of development of Kosovo. But it was a commitment that in the future I could contribute to, in the field of telecoms in Kosovo. However, my life changed from ‘88, ‘89 when I became politically engaged. And then I also studied political science and international relations.
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Aurela Kadriu: Did you confront your father about the reason for his isolation from his family, as an adult or after all your readings?
Edita Tahiri: As I told you he was isolated long after prison, some part of the time he came to the living room was when he listened to Voice of America on the radio, then quickly watched television because my mother bought a television that my father to be able to, to communicate even through television. And, at the time when he came to listen to the news we would ask him why he is so dedicated to this news, what’s happening. He was more open about this, so he spoke politically about what should happen to Albanians, how the West will engage, especially the USA. And he practically expressed a kind of measured optimism that one day we will overcome national divisions, we will have a power to achieve national ideals.
However, he didn’t answer the questions about the effects he had experienced in prison. There were a few moments that I managed to encourage him to confess, and usually this has happened when we went on summer vacation. At that time the main destination was Ulcinj, an Albanian environment and he relaxed there, I had the opportunity to talk about these topics. Especially when he went to swim, I noticed a mark, a hole here in the back {points with her hand} and from there the story started I said, “What is this?” “No, no …” he minimized it, then he started confessing that during the tortures he had {touches her back} a kind of damage that he had to undergo surgery {she pretends to sew something by hand} to close the wound, because of the lashings that happened.
And I remember at that time, not only a summer, but for a few summers he talked about his work, he talked about the movement in which even his aunt’s son was engaged. Who was the main leader for the area of Prizren and Kukës and who went missing, to this day we don’t know his whereabouts. He told me about the commitments and especially the connections with an operation to bring some American paratroopers (smiles) who at that time aimed to see the situation of Albanians here but also in Albania. He then said that they had managed to establish a radio link with which they had maintained Kosovo-Albania contacts, in order to form a military resistance to liberate Kosovo from Yugoslavia and to join Albania.
He also told me a very interesting case, one of his friends who had come down from the mountain to see his family, and at that time the Yugoslav secret services found out and went to his home to catch him. He had a shelter room and he entered into that shelter and {holds her fist close to her chest} killed himself, he had a bomb with him. He always mentioned these situations. He also mentioned the friends he had in prison, especially a friend from Rahovec and while my father was in prison we would spend the summer with them. The reason was that they wanted to help the mother survive, as the income was very limited. He also spoke about moments of torture, he singled out this electric crown where he said that he wasn’t conscious for two weeks, there may have been medical treatments but only after two weeks he regained consciousness.
Aurela Kadriu: How was this reflected in your mother, that she had to take care of you on her own?
Edita Tahiri: Mother was always busy, she had two jobs. Before noon she worked at the textile factory, she got that job after my father was imprisoned, and since my father did not betray his friends, all of them were free and so they made efforts to find a job for my mother. And my mother had to become a tailor, she took a course and became a tailor. So, in the first half of the day, she had an eight-hour shift, and then she worked at home. So, she was busy making sure we survived. But what I appreciated her for, is her commitment to our education. Too much, so, that when we had to study, she would never interrupt us because of house chores.
She also talked about her family in Albania which was also persecuted, all six uncles and two aunts there. Meanwhile, my grandfather was the prefect of Kukës and since one of the uncles was engaged against the regime of Enver Hoxha, he ended up with life imprisonment. He was released from prison only when the democratic changes took place in Albania and practically she said that all her brothers were educated and she wanted us to be educated too, because she said that, “The nation cannot move forward without education.” She did not bother us much, but there were times when she told stories about dreams or when she missed his family, she certainly could not hold back her tears.
I remember how she always sang songs of exile (smiles). Well, that was my mother. Also, mother was known as one of the strongest women of Prizren, because… I don’t know if you are aware of this, but at that time, the Serbo-Slavic regime not only would imprison Albanian patriots, but had a tendency to abuse their spouses. So, I remember her saying,“Whenever I go to prison I have a pair of scissors in my bag.” As a tailor, they were her working tools {pretends to hold a pair of scissors in her hands}.“I have my scissors in my bag in case someone attempts something.” And this behavior of hers showed great strength of character, moral strength, and that turned her into a Prizren icon. So, whenever the most powerful women of Prizren are talked about, my mother is among them.
So there was real resilience, not only individual but also national. She told us, as a child I didn’t remember, my brothers and sisters I think remember the raids that took place after my father was imprisoned. And he told me that when she came as a bride, she had the Albanian flag in her pocket and said that, “We had to find a way so that this flag does not fall into the hands of Serbian police.” And, then she tore off the flag that was made of gold so that they would not identify it and destroy it. There are many other life stories related to the role of my mother, but also the role of father in my upbringing.
Aurela Kadriu: Did you visit him while he was in prison?
Edita Tahiri: Yes, yes, we… my mother would go to Mitrovica and Srem every month. Some women would go (smiles), there were some patriotic men who were in prison at the time and they all went together. They went by train from Prizren to Belgrade and then continued, I don’t remember, I think by bus. And I went there, so did my siblings, we went in turns. My father told me that he was touched when we met, he took me in his arms and hugged me. I moved away {she moves her hands towards herself} I said to him, “Who are you? You are not my father!” And, he then constantly mentioned this to me and he was very touched after he returned to the cell. I remember a little bit but they told me the story, I was one or two years old then.
I also remember when he came back, some news came out and he sent a letter that he might get released ahead of time, so before his sentence was over, and that morning my mother got up to go to work and told us all that, “Your father might come back today.” And we had a, I mean a special feeling, so joy and sadness came together. So the joy that he is coming, the sadness of why he had to be there, and I remember it was before I started going to school, I was waiting in the neighborhood and a family in the neighborhood who were constantly taking care of me, since my mother was at work, I grew up there {points to the floor} Nushi family, childhood … And that day they said to me, “Why aren’t you coming today?” My mother would go to work, I would go there, I said, “No, today I am waiting for my father.” So then they told me but I remember it myself, all the time I was waiting outside until he came… (cries). I can’t talk anymore because I get emotional {drinks water}. I never talked, I haven’t talked about these things for a long time…
Aurela Kadriu: Do you want to rest for a while?
Edita Tahiri: I don’t want to talk about my mother, I will get more emotional. Once we went to the border, I’ll finish it then maybe I’ll calm down. We went to the border, we were here {points at herself and infort} my mother and brothers went that way, on both sides of the border, and my mother was talking to the border guard, her mother was talking to the Albanian border guard, I mean it was guarded. Then my grandmother after that moment when she went home she got paralyzed and spent her whole life paralyzed. Life is very interesting, not only mine, but my life was very specific. But many Albanians had tragedies like this happened to them. I do not want to magnify it, but ours was like that.
Aurela Kadriu: What was it like for you to be a student in ‘74, the University was founded in ‘74?
Edita Tahiri: The University of Prishtina was our greatest national achievement, because all the intentions of the Serb-Yugoslav structures that were oriented against the Albanians were against the University of Prishtina. Serbian slogans are known at that time that Albanians should not have a university because then we can’t stop their demands to join Albania, they will grow, will develop, will be strengthened. But really the University is probably the beginning or the basis of the independence we have today, because without an educated nation we could not progress.
When I came to Prishtina, it was the time when Kosovo advanced, it had federal status and the situation was a little better than in Ranković’s regime, or other periods of time. But in general those who wanted to look deeply at the position of Albanians, it was never good. We were constantly exposed to imprisonment, discrimination, inability to access international education and more. So it was the first light (smiles) in the long tunnel of Albanians on this side of the border.
Aurela Kadriu: What can you tell us about student life, what was it like for you, you came from Prizren to Pristina as a young adult?
Edita Tahiri: Yes, yes. First, Prizren is very beautiful, it is an inspiring civilized environment with a lot of national cultural heritage. So, there’s a great power leaving Prizren, it is a challenge, it is not easy to leave. However, Pristina was the center of education, of the student world and for me it was a very good innovation. Although I was disappointed by not being able to study psychology in Zagreb, I nevertheless began to get into the science for which I chose, so telecoms and electronics and I built my friendships. Being a person who didn’t prefer electronics, but preferred more social directions, I built my friendships in a way that I spent the period of studies with college colleagues, but the rest I was usually in the company of artists and painters.
So, in a way I had the two components that gave me the ability to complete what I was feeling inside. So, the studies were not easy, I studied five years with commitment, with cooperation with colleagues, I would say with all the commitments that one should have to complete the education. I explained to you that my mother wanted to see us all educated, this instilled in me that desire to be educated. While on the other hand the part of going out and having fun (smiles) happened with my friends who were either artists or painters, most of them were painters, sculptors. So, it was a good life.
Aurela Kadriu: Did you live in the dormitory?
Edita Tahiri: Yes, I lived in the dormitory…
Aurela Kadriu: Do you have any memories?
Edita Tahiri: …most of the time.
Aurela Kadriu: Do you have any instances that you remember from life in dormitories?
Edita Tahiri: I’ll tell you the first, every time I went to live in a dorm room it wasn’t very clean and I would paint the room. I would take all the equipment, I am not very hardworking in this sense (laughs). But the rooms were dirty and I could not stand that situation. So, every year the first thing I did was, I took the keys {pretends to unlock the door} and painted. I had roommates, they were surprised, I told them, “Just leave the room, I will do it,” That was it. Secondly, there was the problem with water, we could not use water every day and this was a problem especially when it came to hygiene.
Then keeping order, or running to keep order, who first, who… There were some challenges, they were beautiful but also difficult for life. There was a life… the dormitories I lived in also had some libraries, so a hall where you could go to read. Then came the parties, the socializing, the creation of new friendships. For example, in the dormitory I met a friend who has been my friend for forty years, from Tetovo. So we met there and our friendship has developed for forty years now, and not just between me and her, but between my sister, between my family and her family. She was the daughter of the famous writer Murat Isaku, Luljeta.
Aurela Kadriu: Maybe we can talk a little more about you, you came from a patriotic family, I think that Pristina was culturally and ethnically mixed, whether there were contact between you, between Serbian colleagues, I believe there were, were there Serbians who studied here?
Edita Tahiri: I think there were, but I don’t remember if we had contact, I don’t remember, maybe… I can’t explain why we didn’t interact. But life at the Technical Faculty was very dynamic, many exams, many tasks and we always met only those who were more open to meet. So group colleagues, those who had the opportunity to discuss studies with, so I don’t remember contacts and I can’t explain whether it was a matter of nationalism or because life was very dynamic, student life, and there was no interest in these things.
Aurela Kadriu: Were there any activism in this period in which you were involved in any form?
Edita Tahiri: No.
Aurela Kadriu: It was a period…
Edita Tahiri: It was a period of my studies, I didn’t engage, then when the demonstrations of ‘81 took place I had finished my studies because I graduated in December 1980. So, I did not belong to these eventual structures.
Aurela Kadriu: What was it like when you returned from studies in Prizren, I am talking in terms of the political context and how was it reflected in you?
Edita Tahiri: When I returned to Prizren, I decided to work in education and not in production, because my profession led me to industry and production. I preferred education more and as soon as I started in January 1981, the movements towards the March demonstrations started. The demonstration took place in Prizren as well as in Pristina, it became the main event of developments in Kosovo and there was interference from the secret services of the Communist Party and some of my students were arrested. There I had an extremely sharp reaction, which is probably the beginnings of my patriotism, which was formed in me but was not manifested. SeveralCommunist meetings were held in collectives, they were also held in the technical schools and they demanded that teachers distance themselves from the demonstrations. Not only did I not distance myself, but I gave a harsh criticism for the students who were innocently arrested.
So, that is where the first divisions started, I remember the principal was scared after the meeting, as if he wanted to discuss with so I would be more calm, and I reacted that, “Not only me as a teacher, but you are the principal and you should be the first to protect the students, then come the others.” But I told him, “Here we, our paths separate. I have a different orientation, a different story and a different commitment, but be careful because in the long run in history you may be on the wrong side.” I remember this conversation. What did I do for those students, since they kept them in prison for two months, for two initials KR, people were imprisoned at that time, “Kosovo Republic.” I made it happen that when they returned, they were able to graduate with their generation, and I created all the opportunities for them, I convinced my colleague teachers to provide them with private exams.
