One of the most poignant places in Kosovo is the small village of Prekaz near Skënderaj, which became sadly world-famous at the beginning of March 1998 and has since become a place of political pilgrimage for Albanians in Kosovo. The national hero Adem Jashari is buried here in his home village. And with him 54 of his family members and 4 other villagers.

On 5 March 1998, a Serbian counter-terrorism unit carried out an attack on Prekaz with the later officially claimed aim of capturing terrorists. However, the operation, which went down in history as the Prekaz massacre, was not intended to eliminate armed Albanians, but was a personal attack on the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Organisation (KLA, also known as the UÇK) with the plan to eliminate him and his family. A cruel, ruthless and uncompromising endeavour. The raid did indeed come to a tragic end, with the leader, his brother Hamëz and almost his entire family, including women and children, being brutally executed.

As early as 1991, Adem Jashari and his brother Hamëz made it their long-standing mission as members of the UÇK to separate Kosovo from Yugoslavia. In January 1998, Jashari, who had become the leader of the organisation, was arrested for the murder of a Serbian policeman, but was able to flee shortly afterwards, whereupon Serbian forces attacked the village of Prekaz, but failed to capture Jashari. In February, there were repeated armed clashes in the neighbouring villages, allegedly instigated by the UÇK, in which more Albanians than Serbs were killed. A request by the Serbs for the leader to hand himself in was repeatedly ignored. The situation escalated after an attack on a Serbian police patrol on 5 March.

Several hundred men from the Yugoslav army and Serbian police forced their way into the village of Prekaz and demanded that Jashari surrender within two hours. The family had barricaded themselves in their homes. After the two-hour deadline had passed, the Jasharis still refused to comply with the demands. After verbal arguments and an attempt to defend themselves with weapons, the houses were encircled from four sides, attacked with grenades and set on fire. The massacre lasted three days, and the estate was finally defeated on 7 March. Hamëz Jashari's daughter was one of the very few survivors. She was forced by the police to testify that her uncle had killed everyone who tried to surrender. The Serbian Ministry of the Interior claimed that Jashari had held his family members hostage and that the attack was a normal police operation against a wanted criminal.

On 9 March, the police warned that if the bodies were not buried immediately by their families, the authorities would do so. However, the few relatives (some were abroad for training) demanded an autopsy. On 10 March, the police used a bulldozer to dig a mass grave for the bodies, ten of which had not yet been officially identified. However, doctors, remaining family members, representatives of the church and human rights organisations were denied access. The bodies were buried on 11 March. 42 helping Albanians died due to infections. Immediately afterwards, the Serbian police accused various organisations of smuggling weapons into Prekaz and thus indirectly supporting the Jasharis.

The Prekaz massacre led to a rapid increase in the popularity of the UÇK, whose membership rose sharply. Jashari himself was repeatedly portrayed as a terrorist by the Yugoslav media, while the Albanians honoured him as a freedom fighter and martyr and continue to do so. Protests against the attack took place all over the country, which was one of the triggers for the war a year later. Today, Prekaz is an awe-inspiring and very moving place. The makeshift burial site has now given way to a devotional park with footpaths, fountains and noble marble graves guarded by almost motionless soldiers.

The former residential buildings of the Jashari family were left as ruins in their original state and form a shocking memorial. Opposite the well-kept park is a museum that vividly documents the life and death of the national hero and his family (admission free).