Račak


Račak is a village in the Štimlje municipality of Kosovo. It became notorious in January 1999 after at least 45 villagers were killed.

Geography

Račak is a village in Kosovo, about half an kilometer southwest of Štimlje. The village lays on the Crnoljeva-mountain range. This mountain range divides the Kosovo field and Metohija.

Climate

Population

Račak has a population of 1,638, of whom 1629 are Albanian, one is Bosniak and eight did not answer.

Religion

1631 are Muslims and seven did not answer.

Reçak massacre

Prior to the summer of 1998, Račak had a population of around 2,000 people. Most of its population was displaced by fighting between regular serbian army and soldiers from the Kosovo Liberation Army in July 1998.
By January 1999, about 350 people had returned to the village, according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. On 16 January 1999, OSCE monitors found the bodies of 45 people in and around the village in what became widely known as the Racak massacre. Following the incident, for which the international community blamed the Serbian military, the remaining population fled and did not return until the end of the Kosovo War in June 1999.
A memorial exists to the victims of the massacre at Reçak. Kosovo annually holds a ceremony to honour the victims of the massacre.