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Balkans NotebookNew tragedies burden historic Serb city
January 31, 2000 By Steve Nettleton KRAGUJEVAC, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- The screech of an electric saw chews through the bitter cold of a former market warehouse, punctuated by the clatter of workers hammering wooden planks into a large rectangular frame. Close by, curious children watch as their new living quarters rise piece by piece from the concrete floor. Thanks to a donation of materials from a European Orthodox Church organization, they will have a small space to call their own for the first time in more than seven months. They hope the spaces will at least make life tolerable -- and offer minimal protection from the subzero winter temperatures that have gripped central Serbia. The nearly 200 people crowded into this warehouse are among the 20,000 Kosovo Serbs who arrived in Kragujevac in June after fleeing with the withdrawing Yugoslav army. The warehouse group is typical of refugee enclaves throughout the city that are struggling to survive on charity and government assistance. "We are getting help from humanitarian organizations and from the government, as much as they can give us. But that's not enough," Nebojsa Knezevic, who heads this group, told CNN Interactive. "As you can see, they are freezing inside. They need shoes, clothes, better conditions, food." "All of us here are unemployed," said one refugee. "No one works. We don't have any source of income. We really depend on the mercy of the people." City has its own troublesBut mercy is in short supply in Kragujevac, an industrial town of 180,000 people whose primary revenue came from the massive Zastava factory complex that produced Yugo automobiles. The factory was heavily damaged by NATO bombs in April and May 1999, leaving 50,000 employees without jobs.
The arrival this past summer of one of the largest concentrations of Kosovo Serb refugees in Yugoslavia only made matters worse. It was not the first time Kragujevac faced suffering in the 20th century. In 1941, German occupation forces executed 7,000 men between the ages of 14 and 70 -- almost the entire male population of the city -- including students and teachers at a school. The killing instantly became a symbol of Yugoslavian sacrifice and resistance. For decades it was the subject of numerous songs and poems. Even today, most Serbs can recite the poetic last words of one teacher who refused to leave his students before the execution: "Shoot! Even now, I am giving my lecture." Refugees blame KFOR for plightIt is sad, residents say, that Kragujevac now is a symbol of hard economic times. They find it sadder still that they are unable to offer much help to the Kosovo refugees.
But for the refugees huddling to keep warm inside the warehouse, the help they really want is a trip back home. They blame the NATO-led Kosovo Force, or KFOR, for failing to defend Kosovo's Serb minority. "KFOR is on the Albanian side," said one man. "They do not protect Serbs. If they protected us, I would not be here. I'd be back in my home." KFOR's assurances that it is doing all it can to maintain security in Kosovo have done little to persuade Kragujevac's refugees to risk going back. For now, their priority is finishing the bunks that will comprise their quarters in the barren warehouse -- hoping that the charity that feeds them will not run out. Zoran Stevanovic, CNN World Report assignment editor, contributed to this story. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
