“The Massacres in Kosovo 1998-1999: Preserving Memory, Honoring Victims, and Advancing Justice“

The continued impact of the book “The Massacres in Kosovo 1998-1999” marks the success story of this year. The book, published in Albanian, Serbian and English, documents 83 massacres that occurred during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo. This book aims to pay tribute to all the victims of the Kosovo War from 1998-99, regardless of ethnicity, region, language, religion, gender, social status, or political orientation. The book also honors the families of the war victims and contributes to broader initiatives for post-war transitional justice. Moreover, it aims to serve as an educational and data resource for future generations and help preserve Kosovo’s collective memory. This massive publication, on which we have worked for almost five years, includes 200 photographs from some of the world’s most famous photographers documenting the wartime period in Kosovo.

“The Massacres in Kosovo 1998-1999” has garnered immense praise from both critics and readers alike, with reviews highlighting its meticulous research and powerful storytelling. Scholars, human rights advocates, and community leaders have lauded the book for its comprehensive documentation of the atrocities, emphasizing its role in honoring the victims and fostering healing in a post-war society. Overall, the book is celebrated as a significant historical account and a critical step towards reconciliation and understanding in Kosovo and beyond.

Here are some reviews for the book:

Georg Häsler, editor of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung:

“A shocking presentation: Shkëlzen Gashi’s scientifically measured analysis of the massacres in Kosovo in 1998-1999, which comes at the right time. This book is a monument against forgetting and against the distortion of facts.”

Arbnora Aliu, PhD student at the University of Zurich:

“When I read the first pages of Shkëlzen Gashi’s book on the massacres in Kosovo, my first thought was: this is genuinely a historical-scientific book. A compilation of historical data about a war within a work. Fantastic.

Melanie McDonagh, a well-known British journalist, has published a review of the book in the magazine ‘Catholic Herald’:

“It may seem surprising that, at a time when there are so many conflicts around the world, we would go back 25 years to the war in Kosovo – but that is exactly what this book does. It documents the massacres that were committed during the conflict that marked the final phase of the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1998-99. Why should we bother to return to the recent past when the present has enough horrors of its own? The author, Shkëlzen Gashi, who has devoted five years to this book, says that it “aims to pay homage to all the victims of the war in Kosovo, regardless of ethnicity, religion or political orientation… and to encourage the reader to advocate for peace and work to prevent the recurrence of these terrible crimes.”

At least, it has achieved the first of these goals. It is challenging to have faith in the second’s fulfilment: the idea that we can say that “lessons have been learned” from these events and that we will do better next time. But at least we can reflect on what happened in a conflict; the dead deserve at least that.

Enver Robelli writes about the book «Massacres in Kosovo 1998-1999» in the largest newspaper in Switzerland ‘Tages-Anzeiger’:

“In Kosovo, around 10,000 people were killed – this researcher presents serious data for the first time. 25 years after the Kosovo War, the first comprehensive compilation of Serbian mass crimes, by author Shkëlzen Gashi, has finally been published.”