THEY SEEMED UNLIKELY pen pals: Gary Borisy, a 56-year-old professor of molecular biology at the University of Wisconsin, and a 24-year-old female Serbian undergraduate who left Eastern Europe for the first time last summer to take a five-month internship in Borisy's lab. In December, she returned to Yugoslavia intending to finish her degree before enrolling as a graduate student at Wisconsin. When the Kosovo war looked imminent, Borisy anxiously e-mailed her at school in Belgrade to find out if she was safe. Her reply "War will start. I am scared " is the beginning of a candid exchange between American and Serb. Borisy did not save several of his initial e-mail messages. What follows has been edited for clarity and length.

MARCH 24
Dear Gary,

I just want to tell you that I was very lucky to meet you. Maybe I will not have the chance to tell you in person how much I appreciated what you did for me.

NATO will attack us soon. War will start. I am scared.

Anyway, count on me for your lab, please. I promise I will come back.

With love,
Daniela

MARCH 25
Dear Gary,

Thank you for caring for me. Yesterday NATO attacked us around 20h [8 p.m.]. I heard sirens when I was in bus station in the downtown. I had to ... bring my cousin to another bus [heading for] Budapest. She is American citizen and has to leave Serbia. On the radio, we heard that bombs drop on Batajnica (a military airport [near Belgrade]). That is not too far from my dorm (about 2 miles).... We don't have shelters there and we stay on the ground floor the whole night. Around 3h, sirens starts again through 5h. Then we went to steep, but there was not too much time for sleeping....

I don't have energy to do anything. I am listening to radio all the time. I am worried for all people who I know and people who I don't know.

Daniela

MARCH 27
Dear Gary,

Well, I am not hurt with bombs, but I am hurt with lies! You are looking on your TV and hearing only one side (especially on CNN), only things that your government wants to tell you. You are not here and you really don't know what is happening here, what is happening with Serbian people. Your government cares only for Albanians.

OK, you will tell me that is not the truth. I understand. I heard yesterday what Clinton (here Clinton has the name Adolph Clinton) said-that Serbians are guilty for World War I and II .... That is ridiculous....

Last night was very interesting in Belgrade. The sky was very clear and I could see a lot of stars and bombs.... They hit all areas around Belgrade. They are trying to hit only military targets, but they hit some civilians' houses, several school, they damage one hospital for children with mental diseases, medicine (pharmacy) industry. In Nis, they hit one student dorm (it was empty), in Kosovo town of Pristina they hit center of town with three bombs and also damage the Serbian Orthodox monastery Gracanica (it was made in 1315).... My opinion is that these bombs will not do anything good, they will be the cause for spreading fights on Kosovo....

Through the day, the situation in Belgrade is pretty normal. The universities and schools are closed, there is no gas at the gas stations, student restaurants [are open] only to 3 p.m. [and] we have hot water only in the morning. On TV, we can look only at the news (all foreign movies, especially Americans, are removed). On the radio you can hear only news, too(no music, especially not American)....

But you know, I am happy!!!!!!!!!! I am happy because I am receiving bombs, I don't send them.

Best wishes from your war reporter,

Daniela

Borisy's reply, the first of his own e-mails that he saved, rebuts her accusations about U.S. motives.

MARCH 28
Dear Daniela,

Daniela, our government does not only care for Albanians. Did you hear the radio and television address of our secretary of state, Madeleine Albright? It was beamed into Serbia and she spoke in Serbo-Croatian (which she learned growing up in Belgrade as the daughter of an embassy official of the Czech government). She reminded listeners that the Serbs were allies with us in WWII and fought against the Nazis whereas the Albanians were on the side of the fascists. Clinton said that the Balkans as a whole (not just Serbia) were an explosive region which contributed to the WWs.... Perhaps true for WWI, but not WWII as several historians pointed out in letters to the paper.

The Congress and people in the U.S. are very divided about this bombing. Most people don't really understand the situation. They are not aware that Albanians evicted Serbs from Kosovo when [the Albanians] had the chance. [Americans] are only vaguely aware of a long history of ethnic rivalry. What tips the balance against Serbia, I think, is Milosevic's use of force to achieve his aims....

After the holocaust of WWII, the very thought of 'ethnic cleansing" is totally repugnant to people here. Milosevic is seen as the troublemaker... First opposing independence for Slovenia, then fighting with Croatia, and then Bosnia. So, people here have lost patience with him.... People see him as an aggressor, willing to use force to drive people out.

And finally, NATO draws a line and says "no more" or we bomb. I have been trying hard to think what is right and wrong and I don't know the answer. I agree with you that 'these bombs will not do anything good, they will be the cause for spreading fights on Kosovo. . . ." As a result, both Serbs and Albanians will suffer.

On the other hand ... NATO cannot stand by and be blind to the forcible eviction of a people-even if those

people would have evicted you if they had the chance. Two wrongs do not make a right. The fighting, must stop. Milosevic is a had leader bemuse he has encouraged fighting rather than seeking a peaceful way to settle differences.

For example, Vaclav Havel let the Slovaks go their own way rather than insist on a united Czechoslovakia. The Canadians let the people of Quebec decide by vote whether to secede from Canada (they decided by a small margin to stay)....

I feel very bad about the bombing. Most people here, including Clinton, came to the conclusion to bomb only after long, deliberate consideration, and only because they cannot see any other way to stop Milosevic. Unfortunately, as is always the case, ordinary people suffer because of the decisions and ambitions of their leaders.

Please keep the war dispatches coming. And I hope you do not come to hate Americans.

My heart and thoughts are with you,

Gary

MARCH 29
Dear Gary,

First, I have to tell you I'm sorry, because I said some bad things. I am sorry if you felt my anger. I am sorry if I disturb you with my letters. That is only thing I can do when sirens are screaming and planes are ripping my sky, to write letters. I am looking for understanding and hope.

Yes, I heard what [Albright] said. But, also I heard that she talk about bombs every day in every speech [for] three months. God, she is a woman, [and] bombs shouldn't be in a woman's mouth!

Did you know that 50 years [ago] in Kosovo, Serbians were 50 percent of population? Now they are only 10 percent. There are a lot of villages that were once Serbian, but are empty now. I think this was "ethnic cleansing'. . . . I have a lot of friends who lived in Kosovo, but they had to run away. . . . These facts I saw with my eyes and felt with my heart.

I don't support President Milosevic at all (that is the opinion of almost all students, and as you know, we protested against him).... But now, when we are in this situation, when Serbs can choose between occupation by NATO (that means losing Kosovo) or bombing (that means losing lives, but not dignity and soul), people (not Milosevic) choose booms [bombs]....

Even if people think that Milosevic is bad guy, aggressor, my opinion is that people should not do the same. If NATO are behaving like him, they would not be better! They would be aggressors, too! Evil CANNOT bring any good!

NATO is NOT preventing humanitarian catastrophe, NATO is making the biggest catastrophe this country has ever seen. This is a catastrophe for Serbian people as well as Albanians, Hungarians, Slovaks and whichever nation is living in this country. Many civilians have been killed. Many soldiers, too. Do you know that the soldiers in our country are not a professional army? They are 18-year-old kids that have the obligation of serving the army. They can be anybody's sons, brothers, boyfriends. These attacks by NATO are an example of the "law of power' instead of, as it should be, 'the power of law.'

Maybe this will be silly for you: Kosovo is our history. In 1389 we lost a lot of people there fighting for liberty from the Turkish [empire]. We start our school with lessons about Kosovo. It is Serbia's soul. It is Serbian identity... What would you say if, for example, Mexicans want California to be their own country? Will you say: 'OK, you are the majority there, from now on California is your country, a part of Mexico'?

Here, people... think that Americans are guilty for our suffering. There are a lot of Americans flags on fire in Serbia, Greece, Russia, Macedonia. I am trying to explain to my friends, my family, my people that American people are not evil. They are ordinary people like we are. I am trying to prevent that seed of hate [from] entering Serbia's heart. We should not hate anybody. Also I am writing letters all around the world. I am trying to explain [to] my friends in the world that Serbians are not evil, too.

Please, don't even think that I can come to hate Americans ever! I was happy in your lab and I felt only love there. I cannot and will not forget that.
Daniela

APRIL 5
Dear Daniela,

I was so glad to receive your e-mail today... I read about last night's attacks on the heating station and factories in Belgrade. The reason is supposedly to stop Milosevic by destroying the infrastructure of your country, but instead it only causes ruin and suffering of the people. We should not be bombing a European country. We should be helping to integrate Serbia and the other former Yugoslav countries as full participants within a peaceful Europe. Bombing does the opposite! And I am sure you are right that the bombing in Kosovo is making it impossible for many people to live there. But I think the main reason for the refugees is not the bombing but their forced expulsion by the Serbian forces.

I want you to understand my feelings about this. I understand that Kosovo has a special place in the history of Serbia and the hearts of Serbs. And that many Serbs have suffered dislocation from elsewhere, such as Croatia (which itself has a fascist history). Also, I have no special sympathies for the Albanians per se. I know next to nothing about them.... The issue is a larger one and involves what one people is permitted or not permitted to do against another people. Maybe you know, but I am the first generation of my family born in the U.S. My family had to flee Russia because of pogroms against the Jews.... Those who were unable to leave were killed later by the Nazis. Last week, we saw pictures in the newspapers of Kosovar Albanians being loaded onto trains to take them to the border. These pictures made us think of Jews being loaded onto trains carrying them to concentration camps....

Our news reports say that already 1/3 of the Kosovo population has been forced from their homes. If this is true, it is a European horror unmatched since WWII….
Gary

APRIL 14
Dear Gary,

I am happy because you want to hear another side. Nobody is more deaf than one who doesn't want to hear. I will tell you what I can see on our TV. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle....

Did you hear that NATO supports KLA [Kosovo Liberation Army] terrorists? They give them guns and uniforms and train them.... KLA people are misguided with thoughts about big Albania.... Now the KLA think that they have a powerful ally on their side. But they don't realized that NATO doesn't have sympathy for them because they love Muslim people, but because NATO wants to occupy another country...

NATO has... to learn that they cannot do everything what they want. Serbs said no to NATO troops, and then NATO attacks us. NATO didn't have the right to do that without U.N. [approval].... Also, if they think that Milosevic is guilty for this crisis, why they did not remove him? Why did they need to destroy my country for one man?

Also, NATO lies about bombing only military targets. You probably heard that they hit one train a few days ago.... For now, [they have] found 17 bodies (a lot of them cannot be identified because they are burned) but it is believed that more than 50 civilians are dead. NATO mid it was mistake (can you believe that seven bombs are mistake?) and they are sorry. They are sorry? Another example: Aleksinac, small town, doesn't exist anymore. More than 16 houses are destroyed and many people are killed. NATO said it was mistake, too. This afternoon, they attacked one column of Albanian refugees who were in the road to Pristina. They wanted to get back to their homes! Probably NATO will say that it was another mistake. They don't care for human lives, Serbs or Albanians, they don't care. But I am proud of my people, because we have dignity and soul. We are singing! A song is our only gun. There are concerts in all towns. As you know, in Rome, when Romans put Christians in cages with lions, Christians suffered, but they were singing! Serbs are singing, too.

As you may know last week we celebrated Easter (Orthodox). It should be happy holiday, but it was not. NATO attacked my hometown two times, first on Good Friday and then on Easter. They dropped 21 bombs on the Zastava car factory in Kragujevac [my hometown]. I heard on CNN that NATO thinks that Zastava can produce components for planes, but that is so funny. There is nothing there but cars! My town was crying, because Zastava was for them more than a factory, more than buildings. It was bread!

Both of my parents worked there. Now, they don't have jobs.... I don't receive my scholarship anymore because my country is in the war. But I don't care for money too much.... I'd like to help my parents, but I don't know how. I am powerless for the first time in my life. And I am mad because of that....
Daniela

APRIL 14
Dear Daniela,

At the beginning of the Vietnam War, only two U.S. senators had the courage to vote against it. One of them was William Fulbright, who referred to the war as an 'arrogance of power.' It meant that we did not have to try to understand the other side. This is what I am thinking about NATO. NATO does not want to occupy another country. There is no reason for it to do so. There is no secret, political, militaristic or economic agenda. You may not believe this, but the feeling here, and in England and in Germany, was really to prevent humanitarian catastrophe. Before the bombing, opinions were mixed-with many saying not to bomb because it was not our business.

NATO's leadership, however, did not want to stand aside, like in WWII. They felt that negotiations had come to a stalemate and they had to act. They ruled out ground forces. So bombing was all they knew to do. They bombed because they could bomb and because Russia is weak. It was an arrogance of power. Now everyone here sees that we did not prevent humanitarian catastrophe but we still blame Milosevic for it and feel he must be punished. Unfortunately, the only way NATO knows how to punish Milosevic is by destroying your country piece by piece. There is no love for the KLA and there is some fear that, at its core, it is a terrorist organization associated with drug dealers and racketeers in Europe. Now the issue is no longer preventing humanitarian catastrophe but saving face. NATO is afraid that if it does not 'win" this war, petty dictators all over the world will see NATO as weak and start more wars. This means that NATO intends to continue the bombing until Milosevic says he has had enough....

Now, about science. Will you be able to receive your degree [in Belgrade] in spite of all this trouble and come to Madison? The university here requires you to complete your degree in order to be admitted. I hope you can tell me that you will in fact receive it this spring. If not, I will ask the university to exempt you from this requirement because of the war.
Gary

APRIL 15
Dear Gary,

Of course I want to come to Madison. I will try to concentrate on my studies, which is very hard, but I will do my best. I have seven more exams.... With hard work and luck that this war. [will] stop soon, I hope I will get my diploma [by] September, but maybe I will not receive it until October.

But if I have to be in Madison 1st September, I will be there, I promise.
Daniela

---

Return to our Page