Witness girl Rexhep Malaj's story: I first met my father in prison

Rexhepi and Nuhiu are valued as two of the central figures of resistance and efforts of the Kosovo Albanian people for freedom and independence, and have been praised for their bravery, high sacrifice and organisational skills.

The life and work of Rexhep Mala brings us fresh to this 16th anniversary of Kosovo's Independence, his daughter Victory Malaj.

She in an interview with Front Online has confessed to her childhood, her father's absence, and the sacrifices and challenges she and her family faced.

I was only eight at the time. The memories of the event are fresh and have left a lasting impression on my memory because that very event marks the big turn in my life and in my family, which affected my childhood and to the present day. Even though I was raised with a sense of pride in Father's exploits, his physical absence was still felt and felt today”, Malaj said.

She says without it the holidays are never complete as she adds that she was always looking for fatherly love.

Without everything else, joys and holidays are never complete, nor do achievements and successes have the splendor they would have. As a fatherless adult, you are always looking for fatherly love in those around you, and then you gradually realize that you have to accept his physical absence and cling to memories by establishing non-real communication but that works”, Malaj has expressed itself.

Rexhep Malaj's daughter: Being a Witness's Child in an Occupation Circumstances Was not easy at all

Victory Malaj says he was lucky, saying he was raised by a large family who made sure he didn't miss anything.

I have the fate of growing up with a large family, where besides my mother's love I've grown up under the care of grandparents, uncle and his family, who have always made sure I don't miss anything”, has confessed Malaj.

And as she speaks of the past, she has also been declared for raids by Serbian forces, where she has recalled the heavy moments she has experienced as a child, following the fall of her father, Rexhep Malaj.

Even after his fall, our home was searched dozens of times by police. They came early in the morning, and we children were asleep. I remember that I and my uncle's children relied on each other for strength and for the next raids and arrests. It was heavy when they put their hands in our bags and touched our books and notebooks, which were sacred to us. I think being a witness child under the circumstances of occupation wasn't easy at all”, he said from Malay.

Rexhep Males' daughter: I had my first meeting with my father through bars, I was 7 years old.

Amid emotions, pride and merchandise, Victory Malaj, witness daughter Rexhep Malaj has told of the first meeting she had with her father since when she came to life, he was imprisoned.

By the time I was born, my father was a prisoner, my first encounter with him was through bars in Idrizova prison. The memories are few but special. I remember the long ways to the prisons of the former Yugoslavia to meet him, to enjoy his lap, to feel his caressing over my head, to see his stand and to hear his word that for a short time fascinated me. All of this made me a special child of a special father” has been expressed in Malaj.

Malaj has claimed to have only been seven and a half years, when her father was released from prison.

After eight years in prison, he gets out of prison and he finds me seven and a half years. I remember the day when so many people gathered at home to wait for him, my joy was beyond measure. All the while we stayed together, we tried to develop relationships like father and daughter. He, in spite of his patriotic involvement in illegal activities, took time to stay close to”, Malaj said, which still keeps memories fresh with him.

And a very special moment from her childhood, she remembers it today.

I remember when the end of the first grade was present in the communication of success, where he had the chance to listen to me too by reciting a poem. This moment was special to us both. But all of this took about six months because he was forced to leave the house and go into complete illegalty”, the girl of witness Rexhep Malaj has shown in a confession.

Malaj has also talked about the war period in Kosovo. She has said that all the time were under fever, since her family were targeted by the Serbian regime.

During the war period, my family and I were in Kosovo. Like all of us, we have experienced it seriously. We've been under a fever about what's going on, considering that our family was also targeted at”, Malaj declared.

She has stressed that during the time when Serbs began the raid, she was alone with her two children at home.

Before the end of the war, the house was searched by Serbia's military police units, at that moment I was alone in the house with my two children and was in the ninth month of pregnancy. They stormed in and damaged the whole house, breaking and destroying whatever they found. Some of them stood guard in the courtyard with their guns to the house. They left this time to never come back. Fate wanted Gjilan as a region not to experience the horrors experienced by other Kosovo countries”, Malaj has posted.

Witness girl Rexhep Malaj: February 17th marks the triumph of our people

Rexhep Males' daughter, Victory Malaj, has spoken of the importance of February 17th when Kosovo's Independence was proclaimed and the way this day is celebrated in her family.

The big day of independence, just as for everyone, is a holiday for our family. It's reflection from the past, successes and achievements to today, development and prosperity towards a better future. February 17th marks the triumph of our people against the oppression, persecution and genocide of a century-old rule by the Serb regime APUoslav”

“The proclamation of independence in our family was met with mixed emotions, joy, pain for our loved ones who failed to achieve this day, but the pride that we could and sacrifice was being rewarded and the eternal dream of our ancestors and all Albanians wherever there were” was realized, Malaj said.

Malaj has also said that even the anniversary of Rexhep Males' heroic fall has become a family tradition, while saying that each year, in honor of her father's life, family, friends and institutional leaders gather at their home.

Our “Anniversarys have already turned into a family tradition that organises expectations for all friends, friends and family members, but not even representatives of state and local institutions are missing, as well as other representatives of political parties. Special emotion is when on the day of his fall, you see so many people together who indiscriminately join together in honor of the freedom sacrifice”.

Witness girl Rexhep Malaj's order: Kosovo's interests put before personal ones

Victory Malaj, the witness's daughter, Rexhep Malaj, has estimated that general interests to develop Kosovo must be put before personal ones.

We now require work, honesty and professionalism to develop our Kosovo. The achievements are obvious, but there is still much to work on to strengthen us further, especially on the three main pillars of the state, which are education, health and justice”, Malaj has said.

Malaj speaks happily of achievements in sport and culture, while he says the most important is that “Kosovan no longer rules the foreign leg”.

Kosovo became the newest Republic on the Earth. Our Kosovo every day and more are being honoured by numerous personalities from the world of art, sports, culture and so on, who are proudly raising the Kosovo flag and becoming the best ambassadors of our state. The important thing is that Kosovo is not dominated by the foreign leg”.

Taking into account all that we've been through, the circumstances we've developed, it's not been easy to achieve what we want, but there's still room for us to enjoy the present achievements and try to continue to do our part where we are, always putting general interest on those personal”, has added over Malaj.

Rexhep Malaj and Nuh Berisha at midnight on January 11th, 1984, fell heroicly during clashes with Serb police forces on the Trimean Hill in Pristina