Kosovo photo exhibition of children victims of war

We were once never! ” This is the title of a new exhibition, which has recently opened in Pristina. More than 1,000 children killed during the war in Kosovo, with photographs and stories, as well as personal items are commemorated. Small jackets and shoes, baby cradles or toys that children have played are for the show, writes DW.

The parents of the victims have kept these things to this day as a reminder of their murdered children. Ejup Charaku from the village of Poklek, located near Pristina, lost four family members during the war. His two sons, Hasan (12) and Berat (13), his wife Buffieye (30 years old), and his brother Mihrije's wife (47 years old). They were all killed in combat. This exhibition is very significant to him, because so war victims are not forgotten. I appreciate this exhibition as an idea. It's good because someone thinks about our children and that something has been done to remind them. We feel relieved, even though we know, that this will not bring back our wives and children “, Charac says.

And Mareme Kelmendi's children were killed during the war. It is painful to remember the details of the death of her sons, Besimi and Haxhi, she says. Both were only 12 and 10 years old. You can see the blanket with which I covered my children, and it would be better if those bullets had hit me, not my children, so I wouldn't have had to see their pictures at this” exhibition, she says.

Many visitors from Europe enter the exhibition

20-year-old Albin Morina, whose mother during the war in Kosovo has come as a refugee, has especially come for this exhibition in Kosovo. I lost my father in the war myself. My mother was pregnant with me, and I couldn't see her once. It is certainly good to have such an exhibition to see what we have experienced in the war and the poor innocent children who have died, even though they had nothing to do with it. That touches”, Morina says.

Until today, there is no memorial or memorial days to remind children who have lost their lives”, says Dea Dedi from the Kosovo Humanitarian Law Centre, which organised the exhibition. A total of 1,024 children were killed during the war, according to centre data. And 109 children are still missing.

“That doesn't happen again”

We think it is important that children who were killed or disappeared in the Kosovo war are not forgotten. So we contacted their families to get information about the children, and we told them about our exhibition and our desire to do something to remind them. The families were very cooperative and willing to help us and supported our idea. ”

Finding clothes, school items, or drawings of children was not easy, says Leah Dedie. Most of the things have been burned or lost in war, and for many parents, only memories remain. The commemoration of murdered children is important: “One nine years after the end of the war, we as a society must deal with what this country has experienced so that this does not happen again”. The exhibition will be open until May 2020 at the “Hivzi Sylejmani” Library in Pristina.