There was that alarm siren, and the alarm [would go off] in Trepça whenever something happened and the alarm sounded like somebody was crying au-au-au {describes the alarm rhythm with his hand}, when it went off we knew that an accident happened in the mine, and all of us together with our mothers and fathers would go to and wait in front of the mine pit. After some time… there were some wagons, made out of four pillars and a plank like this {describes the shape of the trolley} used to carry materials, and laid out on the plank was a dead body, the next one. […] I would be happy that it wasn’t my father, a friend of mine would cry because it was his. So, it was a very difficult life back then, very difficult. So, the conditions were really harsh, with shifts, there were three shifts, extreme poverty. My father would fast and at the same time go to work in the third shift. It was a very difficult work environment, very difficult and the work was really hard which still continues to be so, because that’s how the work in the mine is. However, it was very difficult because they didn’t have the expertise either, they didn’t have engineers, they didn’t have workers from the field of mining. And the working conditions were minimal and very… they died, they were gone and it was done.
Hysamedin Azemi was born in 1939 in Mitrovica. He studied political sciences at the University of Belgrade. From 1972 to 1978 he was a member of the Central Committee in Serbia for two terms. From 1986 to 1988 he was head of the League of Kosovo Unions. In 1988, he became a Secretary of the Municipal Committee of Pristina. He was head of the Economic Chamber for two terms; from 1984 to 1986 and 1989 to 1991. Currently, Mr. Azemi is retired and lives with his family in Pristina.