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Serbs to end the repression, but forced
relocation — known by the
euphemism "ethnic cleansing" —
resulted in an estimated 1 million eth-
nic Albanian refugees, 5,000 to
10,000 killed and tens of thousands of
homes, businesses and schools burned.
As Serb forces withdrew, much of
the Serb community went with them.
Leaving, they trashed the schools.
So the JDC's top priority was
glass, to keep out the cold. Some
20,000 square feet worth was bought
for the 14 schools in Pristina alone.
Workers installed it in one week.
Next came replacement of doors and
locks, many of which were said to
have been kicked in and intentionally
destroyed by Serbs.
As Baron tells it, the Kosovars are
growing wary of well-meaning relief
workers who promise but don't deliv-
er. "That's why we only promise what
we can deliver," he says.
Some needs, such as physical recon-
struction, are obvious. Other ideas
came to the JDC only after it further
familiarized itself with the communi-
ties. The organization recently gave
away 15,000 pairs of shoes in Kosovo
— mostly to orphaned children —
and 3,500 backpacks for students.
The JDC and ORT have also
donated 45 computers: 15 in Pristina,
15 in Prizren, and 15 in Skopje,
Macedonia. The JDC has also hit on
an idea for back-to-work vocational
training for Albanians, to train them
to make tables and chairs for the
schools. Then there's the shortage of
dental technicians: The JDC may
bring some in, says Baron.
Finally, the JDC has allocated dome
discretionary funds for school officials
to determine their own needs.
Kacinari, for example, used the cash
to buy items such as chalk, pens, note-
books, a screwdriver and light bulbs.
Many relief organizations offer sup-
port, but only with numerous strings
attached, which does little to restore
the dignity to a long-degraded com-
munity, says Baron.
We Jews know about occupation
and foreign authority," says the 32-
year-old. "If I'd been liberated, even if
someone wanted to help me I'd still
want to defend my pride. Like, 'I'll
tell you my needs and you can help
me if you want.' Just because someone
gives you money doesn't mean that
they should own your soul."
The JDC did in fact make one
condition for its aid: that Albanian
school officials not discriminate
against Serb and other minority chil-
dren. Kacinari boasts that in her
school, there are 200-plus ethnic
Turkish children, learning in their
mother tongue.
Says Baron, "We told them we will
not collaborate. If a Serb or Gypsy
child wants to come to school, to us
they are all just children.
But he added, "These people are
hurt and the feeling of revenge in the
streets is very strong. I don't know if
you can blame them. To put hate aside
is very difficult, as anyone from Israel
knows."
Baron took leave from a lucrative
job in Israel as a commercial lawyer
for a one-year commitment to work in
Kosovo.
"It was boring, fighting in court for a
wealthy customer, just so I would make
1 percent of a business settlement," he
says. "This work here has immediate
rewards. If you give a kid shoes or a
school bag, it's good for the soul." 17
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to visit Israel to learn Hebrew. And if
the economy does not stabilize, the
Prizren Jews may use their connec-
tions abroad to head for greener pas-
tures. One family of four has already
emigrated to Israel, aided by the
American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee, and a second family is
seriously considering it, Demiri says.
The Jews of Prizren identify with
the ethnic Albanian majority, a fact
that sets them apart from the 40
Jews living in the provincial capital,
Pristina. Serbian speakers, they were
part of the elite in the apartheid-like
system Milosevic created.
Although the Jews were not par-
titularly active or visible in the
regime, they rarely spoke out against
the ethnic cleansing that led to the
deaths of possibly 15,000 Albanians.
The returning Albanians view every
Serb-speaker as having been complic-
it in that tragedy.
So, like many Serbs, Pristina's Jews
either left in advance of the returning
Albanians or were expelled from their
homes. Their community in Kosovo is
no more, with most of them now in
Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital.
They are trying to get to either
Israel or to the United States. 1-1
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