April 1, 1999
THE RUBBLE
At Ruined Factory, Anger and Accusations
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By STEVEN ERLANGER
ACAK, Yugoslavia -- The Yugoslav Army conducted its first guided
tour of significant bomb damage in Serbia Wednesday, taking
journalists to two central Serbian towns roughly 60 miles south of
Belgrade.
The large Sloboda, or Freedom, factory here was destroyed in two
NATO raids involving some 10 missiles each over two different
nights, March 28 and March 30, local and army officials said. Ten
civilians were wounded in the attacks, they said.
The officials, including the angry general manager of the
factory, Radovan Ljujic, said that the factory produced only
civilian products, like vacuum cleaners, ovens and electrical
heaters, and had no military purpose at all. He estimated it would
cost $300 million to replace the factory, the largest in Cacak.
Ljujic accused NATO of a callous disregard for the livelihood of
his 5,000 workers and their 15,000 dependents.
"How will they live now?" he asked. "All the stories that we
were producing military equipment are false."
Vesna Hadzi-Vukovic, a former journalist who joined the army
press center in Belgrade three days ago, said: "If a vacuum
cleaner or a hair dryer can kill, then maybe this is a military
factory."
Western military officials, reached by telephone, said that the
factory was also producing ammunition.
Journalists, who were only issued wartime press passes on
Tuesday, had no way to judge the disparate assertions. Around and
inside the shattered buildings were "Sloboda" brand vacuum
cleaners in various states of destruction from the missile damage,
as well as spare parts, printed brochures, smashed ovens, heaters,
hair dryers and other domestic appliances. There was little sign of
fire damage.
But there were also two large buildings of the factory that were
roped off by police tape. Press officers in civilian clothes said
the buildings were too dangerous to enter because of the bomb
damage. The police also continually demanded that journalists stop
interviewing the few factory workers who were milling around the
ruins in their royal blue overalls.
Those workers who were interviewed mostly expressed their fury
and sadness at the loss of their livelihood and uttered patriotic
sentiments that seemed genuine.
Mihajlo Draskovic, one of the workers, had red eyes and burst
into tears when asked to discuss the factory."How will my family
live now when everything is destroyed?" He has two children, he
said, and had worked for the factory for 25 years, making
approximately $50 to $60 a month. "Why did they do this?" he
asked, before striding away.
Milan Djordjevic said he had worked for the factory for 30 years
as a mechanic making engine rotors. "This whole assembly line was
Western equipment we paid for," he said, pointing to a broken
machine-tool. "Now the West destroys our factory. You know, we're
just workers and honest people."
Earlier, the army brought three busloads of journalists to
Kragujevac, where a large barracks and other military buildings had
been destroyed in the first night of the missile and bomb strikes.
The tin roofs of the buildings had caved in and girders poked
through the rubble of an air force facility. Craters measured 20
yards across and about 5 yards deep.
But army officials and spokesmen said there had been no
casualties from the strike. A farmer nearby said he had lost
several chickens in the blasts, but that his goat had survived.
The town is famous in Serbia as the site of a horrendous Nazi
execution, in which 7,000 civilians, including several hundred
schoolchildren, were slain in retaliation for the killing of Nazi
soldiers. In a nearby park, there was a large anti-NATO rally under
a large stone memorial to the dead in the shape of a Roman number
V, to commemorate the students of the Fifth Class who were
murdered.
The gathering usually takes place in October, but was moved up
to Wednesday because of the NATO bombings, and perhaps because of
the visit by the journalists.
At least 5,000 people came, with banners and signs, to listen to
music, speeches and angry poetry, and they applauded a release of
doves.
Three teen-agers with pierced ears and ice-blue gel in their
hair said the bombings had made them feel very patriotic.
"It's horrible what NATO is doing to the people in Serbia,"
said Ivica Cvetkovic, 17. "We never dreamed this could happen to
us. We want to have peace and now we're in a big catastrophe."
"We blame NATO and the Albanian terrorists," said his friend,
Javan Skrbic, also 17. When asked if the Serbian government bear
any responsibility, Ivica thought and said: "Yes, but Serbia bears
a very small percentage of the responsibility."
Asked what they would do if he were drafted, Javan said: "If
called to the army, of course, we will go."
Tanya Petrovic, 16, said: "Even we girls will go there." Three
of her male friends had already been called up to the army, she
said. "One was in the barracks in Prokuplje and it was bombed, but
he told his parents he's okay," she said.
With the schools and movie theaters closed because of the
bombing, life is boring now, they said. "It's boring with a big
psychological pressure," Tanya said. "Our parents don't let us
out, and they make us spend all night and sometimes the day in the
shelters."
She wore a silver dogtag on a chain around her neck. "It used
to be popular, but now it's popular again," she said. "It's a
kind of war fashion."
