The 750-page collection includes 25 works and photo documentation of the suffering of the Serbian people and cultural heritage in Kosovo.
The presentation of the collection began with a minute of silence for the victims of the fire in the discotheque in Kočani, North Macedonia.
Marko Marković, director of the archives of Kosovo and Metohija, also one of the authors of this piece, reminded that the March pogrom in central Kosovo actually began on March 15 with the attempted murder of the then high school student Jovica Ivić from Čaglavica.
"The idea of a comprehensive collection dedicated to the March pogrom appeared last year, two decades after the pogrom. Our desire was to send an invitation letter with topics related to the pogrom to the addresses of cultural institutions, institutions in the field of education and science, and to put all those works that will arrive under the cover of one book," he said.
Prof. Dr. Vladan Virijević, editor-in-chief and editor-in-chief of the anthology, said that this work represents a precious testimony of what has passed and what we must never forget.
"I hope that we can draw some lessons for the future, and certainly for a better orientation in the current difficult times. This phenomenon of violence is something that represents a historical fate. It is a long-lasting path that the people of Kosovo and Metohija are going through and are surviving to this day," he said.
The lasting effects of March 17, 2004.
Prof. Dr. Mitra Reljić emphasized that with a total of seven works, the suffering of people, as well as destroyed buildings in certain villages and cities, was presented.
"The scale of the March crime, and the lack of punishment for its perpetrators, the behavior of the Pristina authorities during and after the crime, as well as the dishonor of the international guardians of the disorder, make the author question the inconceivable element of malice. Why did you burn and destroy if it's yours?", the author asks, speaking about the efforts of the Albanian statesmen to, after all, fall under Kosovo's cultural heritage.
Doctor of historical sciences Milan Gulić said that the events of March 17, 2004 left lasting consequences on the cultural and historical heritage, which, he added, is the treasure of all humanity.
"One unverified rumor led to the suffering of a large number of people, ethnic cleansing on an unimaginable scale and the destruction of cultural and historical heritage of exceptional importance. But was it just an unverified rumor and was it the cause or just the reason for what happened in those three days in Kosovo and Metohija?" he asked.
The director of the "Gračanica" Cultural Center Živojin Rakočević, also the author of a significant number of photographs in the collection, which, according to him, were taken in three weeks in March 2004, stated that those moments demand to be remembered.
"Processed in the context of the general suffering that befell us. The pogrom in Uroševac, the pogrom in Vučitrn, Velika Hoča and Đakovica is also missing, the destruction of schools, high school centers, libraries is missing," he pointed out.
The sponsors of the commemoration of the anniversary of the pogrom on March 17, 2004 are the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, SG Priština and Municipality of Gračanica.
