Paschal Joy in Serbian Kosovo-Metohija
Peter Handke visiting Serbian 12th century Zociste Monastery, Pascha, Kosovo and Metohija, Serbia
For Kosovo-Metohija Serbs the Paschal joy has been complete with the arrival of one of the most cherished Serbian friends and guests, renowned Austrian author Peter Handke. Just like the previous year, Peter Handke has decided to spend most joyous Christian holidays with Serbs all but forgotten in tiny ghettos in Kosovo-Metohija province.
Together with Director of Berlin Theater Claus Peymann, actress Kaethe Reichel, playwright Jutta Ferbers and political scientist Eckart Spoo, Peter Handke celebrated Pascha in the villages of Velika Hoca and Orahovac, some 60km west from Pristina. Velika Hoca is famous for its 13 churches, some of them from medieval time. Today, these two villages represent the full extent of the tragedy of Serbian people in their southern province.
Remaining Serbs in the Orahovac municipality in Metohija region of the province have been living in the virtual ghetto, surrounded by violent Albanian neighbors and cut off from the other Serbian enclaves throughout Kosovo-Metohija. They are among the most vulnerable small Serbian communities in the province, exposed to constant vicious attacks and unable to rely on NATO troops stationed in their area. Although Serbs remaining there make wine of exceptional quality from their own vineyards — the oldest two being planted by the Serbian King St. Stefan Nemanja in the 12th century — ever since NATO/KLA occupied the province in July 1999 they can only till less than 20 percent of their vineyards, due to safety concerns.
Peter Handke, the greatest postmodern author since Becket, who has been ostracized in France and Germany, as well as by most of the Western Europe for his vocal opposition to NATO aggression on Serbia in the spring of 1999 and for refusing to join the chorus of international Serbophobes in labeling Serbs as the ‘genocidal’ nation, donated 50,000 euros ($66,937) to the people of Serbian enclave Velica Hoca — the entire amount of the prestigious Heinrich Heine award he received from his colleagues, Berlin intellectuals.
Handke with his daughter and friends in front of Decani Monastery. April 9, 2007, Kosovo-Metohija, Serbia
Along with Paschal greetings, expressing his gratitude to Serbs who chose to remain in Kosovo-Metohija province despite the ongoing pogrom, addressing them in Serbian, Handke said:
Velika Hoca is a small village, but it is a big place. The so-called world in Velika Hoca is in fact the real world. If there is no Velika Hoca, the world is indeed only ‘so-called’.
“I love Velika Hoca and that is why I wish to spend my money here. I love these children, this wine, rakija and these blue skies,” said Handke. Asked about the fact everyone’s attacking him because he is helping Serbs, the writer brushed it off, adding in a jocular fashion that “everything’s under control.”
Receiving the immensely generous donation in food and money on behalf of Serbian residents of Velika Hoca in Orahovac municipality, the Municipal Coordinator Dejan Baljosevic thanked the Austrian writer saying that it is by far the greatest monetary donation Serbs in the region have received thus far, and adding that Peter Handke and his German colleagues have brought back Serbian faith in Europe.
On his visit to Visoki Decani Monastery the following day, Father Sava greeted the writer expressing gratitude for his friendship and love. He said that, apart from material help, Kosovo-Metohija Serbs especially appreciate and need the moral support of kindhearted people around the world.
2004 four-part article about the people and suffering in this region, titled “Orahovac and Velika Hoca — Five years of life in the ghetto”: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Part of Serbian television video recording of Handke’s visit and address.