In Spring 2025, Anna Di Lellio taught Oral History at the Rochester Institute of Technology-Kosovo. The students enrolled in this class quickly discovered the opportunities that oral history provides. They learned how life narratives can illustrate the ways in which individual stories and broader historical events intersect and how the cultural identity that is present in those stories builds a community narrative. The interviews these young researchers collected make the recent history of Kosovo come alive through the multiple voices of war and its aftermath: the fighters, the commanders, the children of war, the civilian victims and leaders, the fixers, the internationals, and the humanitarians.

Agron Limani

Electrical engineer

I thought that the civilian population should withdraw from the village, more precisely, I thought that the young people, who could be the target of  Serbian forces, should be the first to leave. ..I went to the population in the valley where about 700 people were gathered…I appealed for young people to come with me, leave; some of those who were present but unfortunately are no longer among the living, said, ‘But we are civilians, unarmed, we are with women, with children, with pregnant women, with young brides, with babies,  why would we be a target of Serbian forces, when we do not pose any risk to anyone?’ I answered, ‘Because you need to understand the fact that Serbs have traditionally attacked the civilian population, Serbs have traditionally attacked unarmed and defenseless people, so I think it is better if we leave.’  …After a couple of weeks, we heard the first news …through a small transistor radio… that over 100 Albanians had been killed in Krusha e Vogël.

Jeta Xharra

Journalist

Mexhid Syla

Lawyer