The Serbs from this village resisted the pressures of ethnic Albanian terrorists who have been attacking them all of the previous year and remained in their centuries-old homes. Today, there are 150 families in Svinjare, but they are living in a kind of a ghetto and are facing daily fear of ethnic Albanians' attacks, above all those coming from the Vucitrn village of Pantina.
The residents of Svinjare we have met in Kosovska Mitrovica wanted to remain anonymous. They say they fear for themselves and their families. Fear is what is first seen in the eyes of the local Serbs.
"How can we not be afraid, when we live in hostile surroundings, in the south of the Kosovska Mitrovica Municipality. We live in a real ghetto. These KFOR soldiers are protecting us, and if it were not for them, what ever they might be, it would be even worse for us," says one of them.
"It could not be worse," adds a neighbor who came to Kosovska Mitrovica escorted by KFOR soldiers.
The local residents of Svinjare could not go to the woods to get firewood this autumn, so they have problems with heating. The village is often in darkness and basic living supplies are lacking.
"It was easier for us while the train was running on the Kosovo Polje - Leposavic line. Now we are forced to wait until a group of people gathers, and then KFOR soldiers load us on trucks and take us to the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. Now we know what it was like to be a Jew under the Germans," a young man says.
The local residents of Svinjare hope that this evil would not last for long and that they would be again able to walk safely through their village and live a life worthy of a man.