Authored by Petrit Latifi

A 1913 report by Radničke novine wrote at the time of how Albanians were the center of Belgrad. They would work at the docks, and work as lumberjacks, carpenters, salesmen. They would also give interest-free loans in the 1960s-1970s.

“Arnauts are well known to us in Belgrade: they are very capable and hardy workers on the banks of the Sava and the Danube, where they unload and load large loads; they are lumberjacks, carpenters, salesmen, etc.” And no other native Belgrader complained about Arnaut’s laziness.” After World War II, almost everyone I knew in Belgrade had “his Albanian.” They were not only physicists, they were also our “private bankers,” from whom we could borrow money interest-free or buy foreign currency.

In the context of the public debate about the “demarcation” of Serbia from Kosovo, or of the Serbs from the Albanians—a term for which we have not received any explanation as to what it actually means—the question arises as to what will happen to the Albanians in Belgrade. One of the questions raised was, “If this—we don’t know what—someday it will happen.”

Of course, nothing spectacular will happen, because Albanians have lived in Belgrade for a very long time. Although the city grew and developed into a metropolis, and the social and political conditions, authorities, and borders of the state changed, they remained our fellow citizens under different systems and under all circumstances. This will remain the case.

Some say Albanians. It used to be called Arnauti. Today, the name Šiptari is also used derogatorily for people living in Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Kosovo, and Serbia. After World War II, we used to say “Albanians.” In Belgrade, the phrase “my Albanian” became established, which had a special meaning.

Interest-free loans

In the 1960s and 1970s, almost every family in Belgrade had “an Albanian.” At least, I didn’t know anyone who didn’t. Even institutions, such as the Writers’ Union of Yugoslavia, had “their own Albanian.” I’ll cite just two specific examples. A well-known psychiatrist and publicist and his wife, a top translator, ran out of money toward the end of each month. They had four children, a large apartment, and constantly lost money on checks and credit cards, so they borrowed money from “their Albanian,” who usually fetched firewood, cleaned the basement, and did various other manual labor for them.

Before she married me and my wife, Dragana, a ballerina at the Contemporary Theatre, whenever she ran out of money, she would go to the basement of the building where she lived and apologize for bothering them if she met a dozen or more Albanians. She would eat dinner in a cramped room in her residence and ask “her Albanian” for a loan until her salary arrived. They didn’t charge interest; they were doing their neighbors a favor. After returning from diplomatic service in 1978, I conducted my foreign currency transactions through one such Albanian.

FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN : Dragana didn’t hesitate to descend into the semi-darkness alone, surrounded by a dozen men. Albanians, who lived in large numbers in basements and cellars in Belgrade, were not considered dangerous by anyone. The unknown often seems dangerous to us. As a young journalist in Ohrid, I interviewed a craftsman of antique-style carved furniture found in Tito’s cabinet. He was Albanian and earned a lot of money.

When we had finished the official part of the conversation, he asked me if I was from Vojvodina. After I confirmed it, he said he had relatives in Subotica, that he planned to visit them, and bring them a lot of money. He asked if it was dangerous.

“Why would it be dangerous?” I replied, astonished. “Well, there are Hungarians, they’re dangerous.” “They’re not,” I said, “they think you Albanians are dangerous.” “We?” the master frowned. “Well, we’re the tamest people in the world.” No, Hungarians are dangerous, and they’re all robbers!” It turned out that he had never seen a Hungarian in his life, but that was what was said and believed in his company.

HASAN , RUGOVA AND IMAMI : “Our Albanians” in Belgrade not only brought wood and coal to our homes, but also bought firewood for us. They were not only physicists, they were also our “private” bankers; they exchanged foreign currency for dinars or dinars for foreign currency and, as I said, lent us small sums of money without interest.

They lived very modestly, often several people to one room, and they sent the money they earned to their families in Kosovo and taught their children. This was the case until about 40 years ago. I would like to know what the children or grandchildren of “our Albanians” in Belgrade think about this period today.

BELGRADE AND ALBANANS THROUGH THE CENTURIES

The Italian diplomat Aleksandar Giccioli wrote in his diary on April 25, 1905: “…in Belgrade, where there are no social classes, where no factories or any kind of industry have yet been created, where actually only a few hundred Albanians and Bosnians work…”. I have not found any more detailed information about him. Although we know that this is not true, such an observation still seems interesting to me, at least because it speaks of the activity of Albanians in Belgrade at the beginning of the last century.

In his study “Serbs and Albanians Through the Centuries,” Petrit Imami writes: “

According to the Chamber of Commerce data from 1893, out of a total of 7,632 private citizens in the city, almost three percent were of Albanian nationality.” Most of them were confectioners, about two-thirds, followed by bakers and bureks, just over a fifth, including Elez Nuredini, the “King of the Bureks” in Belgrade, who in 1983 had his license revoked for working at the exit of Belgrade’s main train station, then the city’s busiest burek.

Elez Nuredini

(Elez Nuredini helped his son Akio open the Italian restaurant “Sole” in Vienna, which became a major meeting place for artists, for which the City of Vienna awarded him a gold medal on July 3, 2009.) Of the 570 independent restaurateurs in Belgrade, about twenty were Albanians who owned their own businesses, the same number were private truck drivers, three had car repair shops, five to six were goldsmiths, etc.

“Radničke novine” from 1913 wrote:

“Arnauts are well known to us in Belgrade: they are very capable and robust workers on the banks of the Sava and the Danube, where they unload and load large loads; they are lumberjacks, carpenters, salesmen, etc.” “Radničke novine” was the newsletter of the Serbian socialist movement in the Kingdom of Serbia, published in 1897. The Obrenović regime banned it, but from 1902 onwards it was published again under the editorship of Dimitrije Tucović.”

Reference

Article: Vreme.com “Everyone had their Albanian”. (Jeder hatte sein Albanisch) 2018. Ivan Ivanji.