Dear Museum-L-ers,

I am grateful to Mr. Weeks Jr. for his comment. I feel free to add a few
lines.

Every damage to the cultural heritage in Yugoslavia, and to its innocent
civilians in the first place, is regretfull and must be univocally
condemned.

Yet, I find the Appeal mentioned somewhat selective:

-there is no mention that the Museum of League of Prizren, the house which
hosted assembly to give birth to modern Albanian nation in 1878, was
endangered much earlier, by ordering to change its premises into a
refugees' camp. All of its important archives were intended for removal
(9/95), and after the condemnation of Association for the Preservation of
the Cultural-Historical Heritage in Prizren, backed by other colleagues
and many other instances, left to stay inside the building. Historical
center of Prizren, including the Museum, is registered as the heritage
under state protection. Its heritage was recognized and reported to UNESCO
in 8/1976 by Planque and Sonnier.  Unofficial and unconfirmable news
before the most recent turmoil indicated that the Museum of League of
Prizren is burned. The archives' fate are not known.

-also, other non-Orthodox Christian monuments are scarcely included in the
Appeal. Other reporters mentioned damages done to the Djakovica's St.
Anthony Franciscans' church and monastery, probably by the Allied rocket
because it is near the local garrison (priests and nuns were expelled).
Flock from Pec's St. Catherine church (some 80-200, according to various
reports) was besieged at the Sunday mass 3/28/1999 and deported from their
homeland; the destiny of the church (built in 1928, parish from 14th cen.)
is not known.

-at 4/11/1999 Washington Post published a insightfull review of the
Serbian state activities before the current Allied campaign, containing
heavy accusations of Serbian conservational and museum authorithies which
allegedly had their part in the pogrom's preparation doing timely heritage
removal. Article could be reached at
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-04/11/200l-041199-idx.html,
and did left our colleagues under doubt of the professional code's
integrity. What had happened to the Albanian and Turkish Muslim and
Catholic removable monuments? Were they treasured from the scene of
war-to-come also?
I think I have the right of dissent: my very Museum had sheltered the
Orthodox Christians' collection of icons left in the nearby Skradin's
church abandoned by its priests in 1991 (this church was really bombed
afterwards by the Yugoslav Army, as well as the town itself).

-just shortly I can add that many of Croatian monuments from the UNESCO
world heritage list were directly and repeatedly attacked from 1991 to
1995 (Dubrovnik, Split and Plitivice Lakes, all list-included in 1979)
without the public word of protest of our Yugoslav colleagues... not to
mention the Bosnian war and efforts needed.
The difference is that their words of protest could really weight as
outspoken in the city from where those hits were ordered.

Staying sincerely yours, and worried,

Jadran Kale------------------------
Zupanijski muzej,  HR-22000 Sibenik
Croatia:385(0)22/213-880,fax213-355
http://pubwww.srce.hr/muzej_sibenik
-----------------------------------
-------------JadraNet--Vas omiljeni
dobavljac morskih ideja------------